This was a large international show held in Brussel, Belgium. The show alternates between Chicago and Bruessels every other year.
The show had 7 halls covering 333,680 square feet. In comparison, Drupa 2012 was 17 halls with 1.7 million square feet.
The main theme was digital printing, mostly for labels but a few vendors showed products that could print on film substrates. Surprisingly, there was more than one manufacturer showing litho print units combined with flexo or litho presses equipped with LED UV printing directly on film.
A Few Interesting Highlights:
Epson
Epson's new inkjet head technology 'PrecisionCore' was introduced and the first product to employ this technology were the new SurePress L-6034VW and L-6034VUV inkjet presses. This marks Espon's first foray into UV inkjet printing.
The presses are CMYK+ digital varnish (Gloss, Matte or Spot) and the L-6034VW also has a White ink.
600x600 dpi resolution
LED UV ink using the new PrecisionCore DOD technology
Speed 50 feet/min
Web width from 3.125 to 11.8"
Screen
Screen debuted their new UV inkjet digital label press, the TruePress Jet L350UV, in the Dantex booth. Dantex has been appointed to sell the new press in Europe.
Fujifilm showed Graphium their new UV inkjet digital label press that debuted at Print 2013 a few weeks ago. This is a spin off of the digital inkjet unit they produced for the Nipleter Carlson press. The unique thing about Graphium is the ability to add up to 6 Flexo decks to the press. Two before the digital print station and up to four after the digital print station.
Xiekon's new ThermoFlexX 80 platesetter. This unit has a unique ThermoFlexX FlexTray that allows a single operator to load and unload a 50x80" Flexo plate. It also supports multiple resolutions:
2540, 2400, 4000, 4800, and 5080
Click here to view a video of the Xeikon ThemoFlexX 80.
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Graphic Republik
Graphic Republik Star Plate which is a combination of a new matte film, new matte ink, and a rip with special screening to create inkjet film using an Epson 7900 Stylus Pro printer. Their are several companies offer this type of product but this is the first company we found that does not alter the Epson. In fact, you can still use the Epson as a color proofing unit.
The solution cleverly uses the cartridge space that currently houses Epson's Matte Black (which is used only for Professional Photographers) and replaces it with Graphic Republik's high density Matte black inkjet film ink. We will be testing this product and provide more information as it becomes available.
Summary
The race for digital print market share continues to grow with many companies competing. No one really knows when digital label printing will start to make significant inroads into the Flexo print market. One thing is for sure, in the months or years to come the market cannot support the amount of current product offerings. It will be interesting to see what inkjet or print technology will be the market choice.
This was a large international show held in Brussel, Belgium. The show alternates between Chicago and Bruessels every other year.
The show had 7 halls covering 333,680 square feet. In comparison, Drupa 2012 was 17 halls with 1.7 million square feet.
Screen debuted their new UV inkjet digital label press, the TruePress Jet L350UV, in the Dantex booth. Dantex has been appointed to sell the new press in Europe.
Fujifilm showed Graphium their new UV inkjet digital label press that debuted at Print 2013 a few weeks ago. This is a spin off of the digital inkjet unit they produced for the Nipleter Carlson press. The unique thing about Graphium is the ability to add up to 6 Flexo decks to the press. Two before the digital print station and up to four after the digital print station.
Xiekon's new ThermoFlexX 80 platesetter. This unit has a unique ThermoFlexX FlexTray that allows a single operator to load and unload a 50x80" Flexo plate. It also supports multiple resolutions:
2540, 2400, 4000, 4800, and 5080
Click here to view a video of the Xeikon ThemoFlexX 80.
START 
Graphic Republik Star Plate which is a combination of a new matte film, new matte ink, and a rip with special screening to create inkjet film using an Epson 7900 Stylus Pro printer. Their are several companies offer this type of product but this is the first company we found that does not alter the Epson. In fact, you can still use the Epson as a color proofing unit.
The solution cleverly uses the cartridge space that currently houses Epson's Matte Black (which is used only for Professional Photographers) and replaces it with Graphic Republik's high density Matte black inkjet film ink. We will be testing this product and provide more information as it becomes available.