IML innovation brings new life to sheet-fed labels

To many in the industry, label converting means roll to roll production on a narrow web press, and this has become the accepted norm for much of the self-adhesive market. But, there still exists a large volume of label work that is produced on sheet fed offset presses, and according Heidelberg, the sector is growing rapidly.

According to press manufacturer Heidelberg, labels now represent some 20 percent of the package printing sector, in a market estimated to exceed 50 billion square meters of substrate a year.

Significantly, the annual growth rate for sheet fed labels, which hovered around the 12 percent mark between 2006 and 2010, is projected to see a 65 percent increase by 2016. According to Heidelberg’s Harald Weimer: ‘The shift from web-fed flexo to sheetfed offset highlights how the technology meets manufacturers’ requirements for quality, productivity, flexibility, and sustainability.’

The case for sheet-fed

For long the province of wet glue labels for the glass bottle and can markets, sheet fed offset is making major inroads into new high tech labels, especially in-mold. Currently accounting for little more than two percent of all labels, this sector has huge growth potential, and Heidelberg has demonstrated one of its Speedmaster XL 106 presses running 57- and 60-micron Treofan film at speeds of 10,000 sheets/ hour.