Omet is ready for America

Already a key player in the world label and packaging market, Italian press manufacturer Omet has set its sights on America.

Over two days in June, the company hosted an open house to showcase its newest press, the iFlex, at its US headquarters outside Chicago. The iFlex was launched in Europe in May 2015, but the open house was the first major showing of the iFlex in America as Omet looks to strengthen its presence across the US. The iFlex and the XFlex X6 were both showcased at Labelexpo Americas.

The open house was held June 29 and 30 at Omet Americas’ new demonstration center in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, in the Chicago metro area.

‘Omet Americas opened a new facility to prove the company’s intent to strengthen its presence across the US territory, thus providing its clients an ever closer, attentive and timely pre- and post-sales service experience,’ said sales director Claudio Semenza. ‘The new demo center will be an opportunity for all US customers, without the time and resources to visit our head office or international printing industry events, to test our new iFlex label press.’

A stronger US presence

The star of the open house was the iFlex machine. Printing a web width of 370mm and boasting maximum speeds of 190m/min, the iFlex is marketed as an ‘entry level’ press, or to those small to medium sized companies who often can be shut out of newer technology.

‘We’ve always been recognized for larger and higher-end machines,’ says Semenza. ‘But that’s not the world market. This targets a lower investment segment, with consistency in print quality and productivity, and it is extremely simple to use for any operator.’

Since its launch, Omet installed two iFlex presses in the US at Phenix Label Co in Olathe, Kansas. During the open house, that Omet says more than 100 people attended, visitors saw test labels made on the machine. Omet used the event as an opportunity to showcase the iFlex’s short web path and quick changeover capabilities ahead of Labelexpo Americas.

The event was attended by a number industry partners including AVT, BST, Ctga-Ashai, DMS Dies, Ebeam, Flexo Concepts, Flexografix, Flexowash, GEW, Harper, JM Heaford, Kocher+Beck, Kurz, Nazdar, Precision Flexo & Gravure, Rossini, RotoMetrics, SPGPrints, Tesa Tape, Vetaphone and X-Rite Pantone.

Press specs

The UV flexo iFlex incorporates a pre-register system called iLight, which uses a laser pointer on every print unit to guide alignment of all print cylinders. The light beam shows the exact mounting position for the plate.

The iFlex’s registration system includes a set of cameras that enable automatic register to be achieved using cameras positioned on each printing unit that capture the register mark, allowing operators to view via a centrally located ‘iVision’ monitor.

At the end of the press is what Omet calls the ‘Converting Express’ which includes its Easy-Change Die-Cut unit, a slitting unit and the Rock ‘n’ Roll matrix stripping section. The ECDC is a horizontal loading quick change die-cutting unit, which allows preparation of the die cylinder off-line on a dedicated trolley. More configurations are possible including other traditional options like cold foil, delam-relam and turn bars on rail, water-based dryers, multiple die-cutters and inspection systems, up to 12 printing stations. Omet says the iFlex has the shortest web path between printing units at only 1.3m.

At the close of the event, Semenza commented: ‘Looking at the machine set-up and the printed quality, customers were impressed by the very convenient cost of investment, half of what they expected. Also, they found the changeover extremely fast.’