Chiyoda Gravure has completed the setup and quality verification of SCREEN’s Truepress PAC 830F for commercial production. It has also subsequently established a system for accepting orders and producing digitally printed flexible packaging, focusing primarily on small to medium runs.
Going forward, the company plans to further strengthen its ability to meet diversifying market needs by strategically using a combination of conventional gravure printing and digital printing.
Delivering New Value with the Truepress PAC 830F
The Truepress PAC 830F is a digital printing press for flexible packaging that uses water-based pigment inks. Thanks to its plateless digital process, it significantly reduces material waste and the cleaning and setup work required during job changeovers compared to conventional printing processes.
Chiyoda intends to use this new equipment to promote the delivery of the following value factors:
Improve brand value through the provision of a diverse product range: Chiyoda will provide a wide variety of design options while using standardised package sizes and support the planning and proposal of limited time and region-specific products as well as test market items. Additionally, it will offer production runs to flexibly accommodate small lot orders and the need for a diverse product line, thereby helping its clients to build their brand value.
Optimise SKUs and reduce inventory: their team will establish a production system capable of supplying the necessary quantities at the required times, enabling its clients to optimise their packaging material inventory and reduce the number of stock keeping units (SKUs), the smallest units used for managing products.
Improve productivity and create a more worker-friendly production environment: Chiyoda will reduce operator workloads by minimising plate changeovers and cleaning tasks while maintaining the same high quality as with conventional printing methods. These changes will also cut setup times by around 70% compared to conventional methods, helping to establish a sustainable production system at a work site where retaining personnel and passing on skills are highly important.
Strengthen efforts to reduce environmental impact: they will seek to drive a comprehensive reduction in environmental impact by leveraging the benefits of water-based inks and plateless printing. This will, for example, help to reduce solvent use during cleaning operations and minimise inventory waste by ensuring only the required quantities are produced.
Future Outlook With Eco Smaart
Chiyoda positions its printed products and related services that utilise digital technology as a solution named Eco Smaart. This is an initiative to deliver new value through digital printing and it is designed to meet market needs such as those for high mix, low volume production, shorter lead times, optimised inventory, and reduced environmental impact. The start of full-scale production of flexible packaging using the Truepress PAC 830F is part of the Eco Smaart initiative.
Through their efforts to expand the use of digital printing, SCREEN GA and Chiyoda hope to drive the ability of the flexible packaging market to handle high mix, low volume production, reduce environmental impact, and improve productivity. Going forward, they plan to establish an optimal production model that effectively combines digital and traditional gravure printing, with a goal of achieving a digital printing ratio of around 10% by 2030. The two companies will work to build a production system that is capable of meeting diverse client needs while contributing to the sustainable development of the flexible packaging industry.
‘We are working to upgrade our production capabilities in response to the trend toward high mix, low volume production and the growing demand for environmental sustainability,’ commented Hiroyoshi Sato, President of Chiyoda Gravure Corporation, ‘Our introduction of the Truepress PAC 830F has enabled us to establish a flexible production system complementing our existing gravure printing operations. Going forward, we aim to leverage the unique advantages of digital printing to offer new value. We believe this will make a significant contribution to the growth of our clients’ businesses.’
‘We are delighted that Chiyoda has begun full-scale operation using our Truepress PAC 830F,’ commented by Hiromi Sakurai, President of SCREEN Graphic Solutions Co., Ltd., ‘We specifically developed this press as a solution to support digitalisation and environmental sustainability in the flexible packaging market. Moving forward, we will continue to collaborate with our clients to create new market value and contribute to the realisation of a more sustainable printing industry.’
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