What Digital Label Press Should I buy ?

[manishbjain]

Hello,

We are startup in Labels and we are looking to invest in a Digital Press but the budget is as low as possible. But with so many dgital presses available , I am confused as to what is appropriate for me. Why would one buy expensive Digital Label Presses like ones from HP Indigo, Epson and others when there are smaller , much portable digital label presses like Color Dyne 1600, Afinia, or even smaller like Primera and uninet icolor and a lot others are available at economic prices. What difference do they make ? What are the factors I should look for in a Digital Press that will me decide on which one I should invest in ? Do each of them run on different Technologies ? What would it be advisable as a startup who wants to print labels digitally that also incur low cost and thus help sell the labels more economically ? How do each machine play a role in the final cost of the label ?

 

[dabob]

manishbjain, how much research have you actually done other than making a "list" - nobody can give a recommendation until we know more about what you need for an end product. Yes there is different technology involved - which is the reason for the massive difference in price. Do you need variable data for your labels, what volume labels do you project to run, day, month, year????? How many different substrates will you need to print on? What is your projected budget? What is the availability of service in your area for which printers?

All of these questions need to be answered before anybody could make a recommendation. My recommendation is that you first look much more into the printers you have listed and find out what technology is used in each one, production speed, quality issues, substrates that it will run, etc.

You are asking us what kind of car should I buy . . . too many options not enough information . . . .

 

[productionchef]

Manish
I work for Konica Minolta and am responsible for the Production and Industrial Print Lines of Business. We recently revealed a very cost effective, toner based roll feed option for label printing. The toner provides 3 year UV protection by its nature so it is an excellent choice for lightfastness. This is the link to the site. Please feel free to email me at [email protected] if you have any questions. http://kmbs.konicaminolta.us/kmbs/t...ting/digital-label-printer-bizhub-press-c71cf

 

[manishbjain]

Manish
I work for Konica Minolta and am responsible for the Production and Industrial Print Lines of Business. We recently revealed a very cost effective, toner based roll feed option for label printing. The toner provides 3 year UV protection by its nature so it is an excellent choice for lightfastness. This is the link to the site. Please feel free to email me at [email protected] if you have any questions. http://kmbs.konicaminolta.us/kmbs/t...ting/digital-label-printer-bizhub-press-c71cf

Thanks productionchef - Just a quick question though It might be sound ill researched I know but the thing is am confused. What makes digital expensive and suitable only for short runs ? What is Expensive - the toners ?

 

[dabob]

Well . . the toner is some of it . . . but the technology and maintenance is pricey. For epample we have 4 Heidelberg presses in our shop and there has been more spent on maintenance on our one digital press in one year than on our pressroom, bindery, and local computers for the last five years or more

 

[jwheeler]

Thanks productionchef - Just a quick question though It might be sound ill researched I know but the thing is am confused. What makes digital expensive and suitable only for short runs ? What is Expensive - the toners ?

Manishbjain, I too work at Konica Minolta with productionchef. I recently sold one of our digital presses into a shop that already had 3 traditional litho presses and they are loving it. They were recently spotlighted in Label and Narrow Web magazine as a company to watch.

don't know which digital press dabob has, but our system has proven to be very cost effective. While there are consumables with digital, they are not necessarily more expensive than flexo. With digital you have to replace fusers every few months, or corona wires, air filters, etc. But with flexo, you have alot of material wasted in the setup to get the colors in register and to accurate color. You also have a set of plates for every run, which can be up to 8 plates since flexo doesn't do full color with only CMYK as well as digital. Flexo also has a much bigger footprint and isn't as efficient for short run.

You will have to look at your current customer base to see if most of your runs are going to be 10,000 linear feet or more, then stay with flexo. But if you are going to be doing alot of short run, with lots of different skews, full color, etc, then digital is the way to go.

What makes our C71CF system unique is that we can print on a very wide range of medias without requiring any special coatings. Another thing to note with digital is the finishing is done off-line. This way, you can have 2 or 3 digital presses feeding one finisher. This is ideal for lots of short run and different skews again, because it saves time on the press setup with changing out dies and cylinders. We partner with some of the top finishing companies out there to offer a complete solution. I'm in the Southern California are in case you're interested in talking. Otherwise, I can help connect you with your local rep.

 

[manishbjain]

Manishbjain, I too work at Konica Minolta with productionchef. I recently sold one of our digital presses into a shop that already had 3 traditional litho presses and they are loving it. They were recently spotlighted in Label and Narrow Web magazine as a company to watch.

don't know which digital press dabob has, but our system has proven to be very cost effective. While there are consumables with digital, they are not necessarily more expensive than flexo. With digital you have to replace fusers every few months, or corona wires, air filters, etc. But with flexo, you have alot of material wasted in the setup to get the colors in register and to accurate color. You also have a set of plates for every run, which can be up to 8 plates since flexo doesn't do full color with only CMYK as well as digital. Flexo also has a much bigger footprint and isn't as efficient for short run.

You will have to look at your current customer base to see if most of your runs are going to be 10,000 linear feet or more, then stay with flexo. But if you are going to be doing alot of short run, with lots of different skews, full color, etc, then digital is the way to go.

What makes our C71CF system unique is that we can print on a very wide range of medias without requiring any special coatings. Another thing to note with digital is the finishing is done off-line. This way, you can have 2 or 3 digital presses feeding one finisher. This is ideal for lots of short run and different skews again, because it saves time on the press setup with changing out dies and cylinders. We partner with some of the top finishing companies out there to offer a complete solution. I'm in the Southern California are in case you're interested in talking. Otherwise, I can help connect you with your local rep.

Great. This helps. Can you tell me -

Why consider Linear Feet and not Square Feet ? Say if I want to print 200,000 labels of 2 inch x 2 inch size. How do I get the linear feet for that and what is appropriate for that Digital or Flexo.

 

[dabob]

Manishbjain . . . KM makes some good machines but they are not much different than the digital press options that most manufacturers as far as initial cost and running costs are concerned . . . digital can be very cost effective in the right markets but you would not want to run 1,000,000 labels on a digital press if you have a flexo press. But if you want to put individual bar codes on the label digital is the only way to go.

As to your question about linear feet that is how web presses measure their production, i.e. if you have a 12 inch square label on a 13 inch wide web you could conceivably net 10,000 labels per hour because you are measuring the speed of the web ft/hr. if you had a 6x6 inch label you would net 40,000 labels per hours (2x2 in a 12 inch square area) . .. sheet fed is measured in sheets per hour since the press runs at a speed that is measured in the number of sheets per hour.

hope that answers your question.