Heidelberg Anicolor chosen for short run cartons

Ebro Color, in Albstadt, is the first German carton house to install a Heidelberg Speedmaster SM 52-5 with Anicolor inking unit and dispersion coating unit.  The new press has been acquired to handle Ebro Color’s online sales of short run folding cartons, from 500 units upwards.  ‘We chose Anicolor technology because its standardization and automation allows us to remain competitive in short-run printing,’ said German Brodbeck, who runs the company.  Today, around half of all packaging orders are produced on the Anicolor press, which has printed over 2.5 million sheets since it was installed.
 
Anicolor technology is an efficient alternative for the cost-effective production of high-quality products in short runs.  ‘Even short runs of a few hundred sheets really pay dividends, so companies that have developed a new product can start with small packaging jobs for test purposes,’ explained Brodbeck. ‘We print most cost-effectively when corporate colors can be generated from process colors.  This is easy to achieve with Anicolor,’ he added.

The Anicolor inking unit cuts make-ready times by almost 70 percent, and enables faster job changes thanks to the elimination of ink zone setting and shorter washup times.  As the press installed at Ebro Color is ready for use after just 30 sheets and produces up to 90 percent less waste, Anicolor also makes an important contribution to environmental protection. ‘This is well below the 200 to 300 startup sheets usually required for offset printing and goes a long way to improving the CO2 balance of our products,’ Bodbeck concluded.
 
Ebro Color’s portfolio includes bag, pillow, and double-wall cartons produced in runs of between 500 and 10,000 sheets for around 1,000 customers in German-speaking countries. Customers make inquiries online only, using a form comprising around 200 standardized types of packaging.