Mid-America Display, the custom product display and signage division of St. Louis corrugated packaging provider Boxes, Inc. purchased an EFI Nozomi C18000 single-pass press for direct-to-board printing.
 
Mid-America and Boxes, Inc.’s production capabilities currently include analog direct-print flexo and litho-lamination as well as some short-run direct-to-digital printing.

The press, manufactured by Silicon Valley print technology company Electronics For Imaging, Inc., is scheduled to be installed and in production during the fourth quarter of 2018.
 
“I believe that digital is the future of the packaging and display industry and the future is now,” Mid-America Display and Boxes, Inc. President and CEO Mike Patton said. “We strive for excellence in all areas of our business and the EFI Nozomi has exceeded our expectations.”
 
Mid-America’s press will be among the first EFI Nozomi presses in the Midwest, and one of several installed in the U.S.
 
 The award-winning press features a single-pass, piezo grayscale inkjet writing system.
 
With its 71-inch (1.8-meter) printing width, the EFI Nozomi press operates at speeds up to 246 linear feet (75 linear meters) per minute to print up to 10,000 35x35-inch(890x890-mm) boards per hour two-up.
 
“Many of our designs are built to optimize our 66x110-inch rotary format,” Patton said, “and with the Nozomi we can offer high-quality, on-demand printing that meets our large-format capabilities.”

 Additional EFI Nozomi features and benefits include:
 

• A 100% in-line image quality inspection system that actively manages and optimizes inkjet nozzle alignment and uniformity errors for the highest possible imaging quality;
• A high-productivity, permanent head architecture that eliminates the downtime associated with replacing consumable printheads;
• Compatibility with the broad range of boards Mid-America produces, from N-flute to triple-wall board, and including traditional Kemi, mottled, bleach and kraft materials – with all of them printing full press-rated speeds;
• Assured sustainability with output certified for OCC recyclability and repulpability by the Western Michigan University Recycling, Paper and Coating Pilot Plant – a leading certification organization for corrugated recycling.

 
“Mid-America Display is taking an early lead in the transformation of high-quality, highly effective, single-pass corrugated display manufacturing with the EFI Nozomi press,” said José Luis Ramón Moreno, VP and GM, EFI Industrial Printing. “The on-demand, ultra-high-speed digital LED inkjet capabilities this company is adopting will help ensure that Mid-America is second to none in terms of the versatility and superior value it delivers to customers.”