Heidelberg Reports Successful Labelexpo 2017

The labeling market is one of the largest growth segments in the printing industry, and the demand for digitally printed labels in particular is recording dynamic and sustained growth. The level of customer interest in the latest labeling solutions from Gallus, a subsidiary of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg), was high at this year’s Labelexpo trade fair in Brussels at the end of September.
 
Numerous orders for the Gallus Labelfire digital label press as well as for the new Gallus Labelmaster platform are evidence of Heidelberg’s role in this market segment.
 
“The labeling market is an important part of our growth strategy,” said Rainer Hundsdörfer, the company’s CEO. “We’re focusing on the globally increasing demand for labels, produced both digitally or in the conventional way. We’re convinced that our Gallus range will provide a great amount of potential for Heidelberg.”
 
Gallus and Heidelberg are working together on numerous projects which will bring digitization in the companies forward and offer customers added value. Gallus customers also benefit from the virtually completed integration of the Gallus sales and service organizations into the Heidelberg Group.
 
At Labelexpo, Gallus presented the Gallus Labelfire digital label press with enhanced inline finishing processes. As opposed to the digital label presses found on the market which only print digitally and incorporate label postpress activities into a downstream process, the Gallus Labelfire produces finished and die-cut labels in just one production run. Thus, the digital printing of finished labels on the Gallus Labelfire guarantees faster production times in conjunction with less paper waste. With the latest generation of Fujifilm inkjet printheads, the Gallus Labelfire, with a native resolution of 1,200 dpi, ensures print quality that matches that of offset printing.
 
Numerous orders were signed during the trade fair, including by first-time customers from Italy, Austria and Germany. Three customers have already ordered or are using their second press.
 
After the successful premiere of the Gallus Labelmaster during the Gallus Innovation Days in September 2016, Gallus also presented the Gallus Labelmaster Advanced line with multiweb feature (several webs are processed simultaneously and are merged to produce the end product) to the public for the first time at the Labelexpo 2017.
 
The demand for this press platform exceeded expectations, resulting in the fastest start-up of a machine system in the history of Gallus. The initial series of more than 20 machines, which will be produced by the end of the year, has already been sold.
 
The new Gallus Labelfire 340 digital printing system has been designed for the self-adhesive label market. The global print volume of these labels is growing by around 4% each year. The proportion of the volume that is printed digitally is only approximately 6%, but this is increasing significantly. Forecasts indicate that in the medium term around every second machine sold in this sector will print digitally.

Full house at Gallus at the Labelexpo 2017: Customers were impressed by the new Gallus Labelmaster press platform and have placed a large amount of orders. (Source: Heidelberg)