Konica Minolta shows technology

At a press conference, Kevin Kern, senior vice president, business intelligence and business planning at Konica Minolta, said the company is leveraging its strong position in the commercial and wide format markets where its core technologies are inkjet and EP, ‘We have experience of digitization in other markets which we will now apply to labels.'

For digital label production, Konica Minolta has the Biz hub C71cf, which has found a niche in the mid-market where capital investment is ‘significantly lower’ than, for example, HP Indigo or Xeikon systems. It operates at speeds up to 60 ft/min at 1200dpi, and is based on the established electrophotographic C1070 series engine from the commercial market. It has a small footprint of 12.5 x 5 x 5 ft and comes with the Color Centro color management system. The partnership with Spartanics also offers a laser die-cut option, and AzTech is another partner for full rotary die cutting.

Other systems Konica Minolta has in the wider packaging market include the Accurio Jet KM-1 B2 digital press targeted at the carton market.’ We are also looking at possibilities in the sheetfed label market for this press,’ said Kern.

The Accurio Jet KM-C is targeted at flexible packaging - though this system is only currently available in Japan until food contact issues are addressed for wider markets.