This week, if you’re in the label printing industry, the place to be is Lier, Belgium, just outside the vibrant city of Antwerp, for the third Xeikon Café, taking place March 28-31. Here, several hundred label converter attendees, along with dozens of printing industry analysts and members of the trade press (that’s me!) are among the first to see live demonstrations of the company’s newest addition to its press portfolio, the PX3000, aka the Panther.

The Panther is positioned as a complement to Xeikon’s well-established dry toner press portfolio, and meets demand for glossy, durable labels. For details on the new press, go here.

This week, Xeikon and Flint Group also announced a change in leadership, bidding a fond farewell and thank you to Wim Maes, who is moving on after eight years of CEO leadership at Xeikon. For information on his replacement, go here.

Meanwhile, there's lots of activity at the Xeikon Café. In addition to keynote speaker presentations, intimate technical educational sessions, demonstrations of the complete Xeikon press portfolio – including demos of the new UV inkjet press, the PX3000 – the partner companies within Xeikon’s Aura network are on hand with a variety of equipment demonstrations representing every facet of the label printing workflow. The event has the feel of a mini tradeshow. Among the exhibitors and what they are highlighting:

Label Traxx, an expert in business management software for label converters, is here showing its management information system (MIS), bringing into focus workflow optimization for digital label printing. With 20+ years in the label market, Label Traxx offers a number of tools to help label printers streamline and automate their digital label workflow, reduce overhead costs and eliminate the bottlenecks caused by many small jobs in production. Label Traxx software connects to the Xeikon digital front end using JDF (Job Definition Format), which provides consistency and reliability from job to job. Job data and artwork can be passed over to the press and toner, and usage information is sent back for costing.

“Our aim at the Xeikon Café is to help label converters be as efficient as possible. With digital print, the need to be streamlined is even more acute,” says Tim Hollins, technical print specialist at Label Traxx. “This exhibition and conference event is a great opportunity to meet label converters from all over the world looking to optimize their digital label workflow.”

China-based Brotech Graphics, a specialist in label finishing, converting, and quality inspection, is exhibiting at the Xeikon Café. Label and packaging converters attending the Café are seeing Brotech’s CDF digital label converting and finishing system presented live. Brotech is also showing in-mold labeling solutions in combination with other end-to-end digital solutions.

“We are honored to be a part of the Xeikon Café and the opportunity it presents to see the latest digital trends and engage directly with converters the value of growth opportunities digital printing can bring,” says Ramon Lee, Brotech managing director. “Brotech’s fully modular designed equipment allows for total solution flexibility and customization. This offers a wide variety of immediate and future application solutions, which is an important consideration in the investment in new capital equipment for any converter.”

Brotech offers its Eurotech CDF, DF, and SDF equipment in a wide array of web widths to address digitally printed labels, board or flexible packaging, converting, and finishing. The company’s complete range of finishing equipment provides machinery for pressure sensitive labels, as well as ECL, RFID, IML, tickets and tags, and booklet labels, and are globally used for slitting, diecutting, lamination, primer, UV varnishing, cold foil, flexo printing, and inspection. The compact Brotech Eurotech CDF finishing system features digital finishing and diecutting capabilities during live demonstrations of self-adhesive and in-mold labels at the event.

Inspection leader AVT  is demonstrating live at Xeikon Café label print jobs verified from setup through printing and finishing with its Helios Turbo HD machine vision technology and image processing capabilities. Helios Turbo HD is designed to boost inspection efficiency and paves the way towards the future of print inspection and process control with advanced algorithms designed to detect any type of defect. During the Xeikon Café, the system’s high resolution and high speed that ensures print quality, data validity, barcodes and numbers tracking, as well as DeltaE color monitoring – all in one pass, is being highlighted.

“Our main drive at the Xeikon Café is to promote the concept of preventive and on-time quality assurance and control, using smart, automatic, cutting-edge inspection technology,” explains David Naisby, AVT business development director. “The open dialogue structure of the event provides a valuable opportunity to increase our exposure and connect with new prospects and existing customers, while promoting the importance of inline quality print inspection and process control on the press and not downstream in finishing.

Michelman's DigiPrime 4453 is also being spotlighted at the Xeikon Café. DigiPrime 4453 is a water-based digital press primer formulated for use on Xeikon digital presses. It promotes excellent ink adhesion to most IML films, improves rub resistance, and is Xeikon-approved for use with Xeikon dry toners, including QA-I, ICE and Cheetah, which run respectively on the Xeikon 3000 Series, and the Xeikon CX3 presses.

AB Graphic International, a leader in fully modular digital converting, inspection rewinding and turret rewinding, has returned to the Xeikon Café. With more than 1,000 digital machine installations worldwide, the flagship AB Graphic Digicon Series 3 is showing its latest advanced modules in finishing equipment to Café visitors. Spot and flood coat varnishing, matrix stripping, slitting, non-stop high-speed turret rewinding, and camera inspection with integrated workflow are all being demonstrated in a variety of self-adhesive label applications.

“In 2016 we launched some very exciting modules for the Digicon Series 3, and this is a great platform to showcase them in Europe, to a wide audience of label printers and converters,” says Mark Hyde, sales manager of AB Graphic International. “The Digicon we are exhibiting has a non-stop fully automatic turret rewinder making it a truly complete finishing solution. As proven in the 2015 edition, the Xeikon Café attracts our ideal target market – digital press owners and those looking to purchase.”

Meech International is sharing its technical and application knowledge in web cleaning and static control live at the Xeikon Café. This marks the company’s third visit to the now annual event, showing how to control and maintain a clean web in digital printing. Meech solutions are being included in live demonstrations of folding carton and IML applications.

Donald Lewis, business development manager at Meech is here sharing with comverters valuable knowledge in the “Web Cleaning & Static Control solutions for Digital Production” session of the educational Xeikon Café Technical Conference Program.

Ralph Simon, area manager of Meech International is pleased to be part of the Xeikon Café. He says, “Being a Xeikon Aura partner for several years, we are looking forward to another edition of the Xeikon Café. We have been part of the previous Cafés, and participating in the 2017 edition was a decision easily made. The Xeikon Café is a familiar, informal and educational networking event and ideal opportunity to address the web cleaning and static control needs of the digital printing industry. Visitors can experience first-hand our solutions during live demonstrations on the printing machines. We are excited to meet with them, network and learn interesting things about the industry.”