Japanese packaging printer Kyoshin Paper and Package is the first in the region to install the digital B1 Heidelberg Primefire 106, which it will use to significantly boost its web-to-pack business.
The Primefire 106 is the world's first B1 digital press. Heidelberg has sold several into Europe, including the first at Color Druck in the Black Forest, which also runs a web-to-pack business with the Primefire.
Established in 1948 as a conventional packaging printer Kyoshin began a web-to-pack business – Hacoplay – six years ago. Hacoplay is for short-run on-demand boxmaking, with a typical three day lead time, and can currently print on a maximum B2 sheet. The move to a bigger press follows a similar decision to upscale that took the business into new markets, with the company having the same intention for the Primefire.
Kazuhiro Kajikawa, executive managing director of Hacoplay division said, “By previoulsy enlarging the size from A3 to B2, we were able to expand our business, and we are expecting more by going for B1 size with Primefire 106.”
Kyoshin first saw Primefire at drupa 2016, and followed that up with a request to Heidelberg for tests. The company is now installing the press, it expects it to be commissioned by September.
Kajikawa, said, “The result of the print test was excellent. The print quality such as green and orange were outstanding, and we felt that the quality of print by Primefire 106 was the most beautiful we have ever seen. The consistency of quality between first and 500th sheets was also amazingly stable. It surprised even our offset press operator who was with me for the test. Other interesting feature of Primefire 106 for us is to be able to cover 95 per cent of Pantone colour because we as packaging printer have to use a lot of special colours for package printing.”
The Primefire 106 is the first available industrial digital printing press for packaging in B1 format. “Japan is for us a very important market as it is among the top countries for folding carton production and it has probably the highest standards of image quality in the world,” explains Montserrat Peidró-Insa, head of Digital Print Business at Heidelberg. “The success of Primefire customers is what drives our entire team. We are proud to have such a renowned company like Kyoshin Paper and Package selecting Primefire 106 to accelerate their company growth. With this new installation, Primefire is expanding its global presence even further and consolidating itself as a business growth enabler in packaging.”
Short-run on-demand boxes and packaging is expected to grow strongly over the coming years, as technology such as Primefire enables brand owners to versionise, to reduce inventory and to respond to markets quickly.
