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RTF DocumentCards Asia 2009, Singapur
Genius 52UV promoted to crowd-puller at cards trade fair – Displayed machine sold to printing plant in Malaysia
Singapore's annual Cards Asia trade show was held at the SUNTEC International Convention & Exhibition Centre from 22 to 24 April. If there was one thing that acted as a magnet for the numerous visitors from Asia, it was KBA-Metronic's award-winning, Genius 52UV waterless offset printing machine. The UV machine, installed over an area of just 12 m², and which can be used on formats of up to 36 x 52 cm, was practically besieged. "The production opportunities that the machine offers go far beyond what any conventional offset press can deliver", said Steven Chew, CEO of Stevic Singapore Pte. Ltd., distributor and service partner of KBA-Metronic in Southeast Asia. “The Genius 52UV is able to print on plastics, metallized foils and price-sensitive materials. Its low set-up times within seven minutes and just 10 start-up sheets before the first good sheet can be produced, are important advantages in the card business. Printing with a resolution of 120 lines/cm with all colors staying consistent during the entire print run is clearly a plus factor in security printing as well, like in the production of ID cards, driver’s licenses, e-passport datapages, credit cards and others. These kind of applications opens up a whole new market for normal offset printers”, added Mr. Chew.
The machine was presented at Cards Asia in Singapore for the first time following many successful installations of the Genius 52UV worldwide and especially in countries like Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. Günter Meyer, KBA-Metronic Sales Director from Germany, was very impressed by the enormous interest the visitors showed. "We had some very interesting meetings, were able to sell the machine directly from the exhibition stand and are hopeful of good post-fair sales. Printing without water is obviously not for everybody. However, professionals lose their scepticism very fast when they see that it works. This is made possible by just four large rollers and cylinders of exactly the same size. Its global success proves our point."
The Anilox screen roller transports a specified amount of ink through the ink cells onto an inking roller, which then inks the printing plate on the plate cylinder. With each rotation, the silicone-coated printing plate takes up the only required amount of ink - over or under-inking impossible. No water is needed to dilute the ink, which could cause colour variations. Classical indirect printing by the offset method then follows: the ink is delivered onto the blanket and then transferred to the printing substrate. A central impression cylinder in a gripper bite ensures quiet, exact sheet travel and absolute register quality. This principle also allows a critical printing material thickness of 800 µm - exactly the thickness of one of those cards that we nowadays all have in our wallets. The maximum sheet size of 36 x 52 cm allows the Genius 52UV to print on one sheet up to 24 copies of a card in an 85.5 x 54 mm format. Theoretically, 192,000 individual cards can be printed at a maximum printing speed of 8,000 sheets per hour. At Cards Asia, the printing of polycarbonate cards, which were then personalised, was demonstrated. The next step, with multi-layered cards, would be to laminate and then finally punch the cards.
The Genius 52UV can also be equipped with a coating unit, so that the four-or five-color printed sheet can be fed directly into the integrated varnishing unit after intermediate drying. Delivery segments of different lengths increase the gloss levels of high-gloss varnishes. In certain applications, varnish can be a substitute for lamination, so enabling production costs to be reduced.
But there are many other interesting and high-margin applications that can be printed with the Genius 52UV. For example, the lenticular or 3D images that are highly popular among children, printed on special lenticular films. Advertisements may, for instance, also be printed on adhesion or magnetic films, which can be transferred to a great variety of substrates without any additional accessories. Mouse pads, displays, envelopes, stickers, sales wobblers, signs, hangtags and much more can be printed with the Genius 52UV on a variety of plastics such as PVC, PET, and ABS, PS, PC and others. This all means that advertising departments and printing service providers now have completely new ways to stand out and acquire business in a new sector with great potential.
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