Heidelberg has announced that the first US installation of Peak Performance Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 106 has taken place at food and beverage packaging and label printer DWS Printing Associates of Deer Park, NY.

The company purchased Heidelberg’s flagship press at drupa 2012, aiming to expand its production capabilities and improve efficiency by introducing technology that would enable it to handle a wider variety of substrates and sharpen its competitive edge. “We did not want to catch up with the competition,” company president Tom Staib said at the time. “We want to be a technology leader.” More recently, he added, “The Speedmaster XL 106 is state-of-the-art. As far as I’m concerned, there is no better press for printing food and beverage labels.”

DWS opted for a configuration designed to advance its continuous improvement initiatives. It was the first XL 106 in the US with a combination of CutStar inline sheeter, Hybrid UV technology, and both Prinect Inpress Control and Prinect Axis Control color measurement and control systems. The configuration includes the latest version of Prinect Pressroom Manager, which connects with the company’s Nexus prepress workflow, as well as Prinect Cockpit/Analyze Point to monitor production in real time and report an accurate account of waste sheets and good production. The XL 106 is the company’s first Heidelberg press.

“Part of our mission is to be the absolute best at what we do,” says Staib. “There’s no question that the XL 106 has moved us closer to that goal.”

Before the press installation, DWS invested in training and continuous education on Heidelberg technology. “Prior to delivery of the press, we sent two press crews to Kennesaw (Georgia, home of Heidelberg US) for preliminary training,” Staib says. “My technical director and I also attended. Although we would not be running the press ourselves, we felt it was imperative that we learn the technology as best we could. Several months after the installation and initial on-site training, we had a number of additional training sessions that served as great ‘refreshers’ for our pressmen. I would add that the service and support we’ve received from Heidelberg has been exceptional.”

CutStar Trims Costs
Because DWS frequently works with BOPP films and light metallized papers, it needed a press that could handle these difficult substrates without tripping. Specifically, the CutStar roll sheeter peripheral makes a huge contribution to printing successfully on these types of substrates, Staib says. “Feeding the press off of rolls, rather than sheets, significantly reduces the challenges we previously faced when feeding these materials.” In addition, “Our success on these substrates is also due largely to the XL 106’s integrated UV capability. The UV has made a significant difference in production speed, particularly on synthetics. We’re running fairly consistently now on most substrates, in both conventional and UV operation,” he explains. “There definitely was a UV learning curve, but we’re comfortable with it now,” such that DWS currently runs around 40 percent of its jobs in UV mode.

Custom Color
The company’s XL 106 boasts dual color management systems suited to the range and types of substrates DWS uses to produce a wide variety of cut-and-stack, pressure sensitive and in-mold labels for the craft beer, beverage, food and household markets.

“We use Prinect Axis Control for the significant volume we print on clear film and metallized paper,” Staib explains. “However, we also print the bulk of our work on white opaque materials, paper and film, and for that we needed Prinect Inpress Control to monitor color on these substrates in real time, at speeds up to 18,000 sheets per hour. The fact that Heidelberg could customize our press in this way was a decisive factor in our selection of Heidelberg over the competition.”