Gallus Group, a subsidiary of Heidelberg, reports that 2024 was a pivotal year for the company – with its latest products now equipping label businesses market-wide to unlock critical efficiencies for greater profitability. Reflecting on new technology launches including the System to Compose modularity concept for the Gallus One, as well as Gallus MatteJet technology, Gallus continues to push the industry forward towards a smart, connected, and successful print future.

Unlocking rapid success and record ROI

As the company welcomes 2025 with further developments in the pipeline, Gallus, is unveiling details of two of its recent Gallus One customer installations: part of an extensive list of sales across a strong business year. Both Flexon from the Czech Republic and Yeloprint from Hungary have seen significant success within just a few months of installation, with the presses already demonstrating promise of achieving ROI and breakeven within an impressive timeframe.

“We are delighted to report the successes of two Gallus One customers in digital label printing: powerful examples of how our ongoing innovation efforts in this strategic growth segment are continuing to deliver transformative solutions to market and creating a meaningful real-world impact,” comments Dario Urbinati, CEO, Gallus Group. “Flexon and Yeloprint are dynamic and thriving businesses, and we look forward to partnering and supporting their activities over the coming months and years.”

A new benchmark: the lowest TCO for digital label production

The latest to share their successes with the Gallus One, Flexon and Yeloprint join a growing roster of satisfied customers and successful installations since the machine’s launch in 2022. Earlier last year, US-based PrintFlex revealed how the Gallus One had reduced production costs, with CEO, Liz Pecha-Poelker, explaining that the team were “thrilled” with the investment which offered them “the lowest total cost of ownership [TCO] for digital label production.”

With an existing Gallus Labelfire 340 and a positive experience of Gallus customer service, Flexon, based in Vestec, Czech Republic, installed the Gallus One in November 2024. Already printing commercial jobs within the operator training period, the company claims to have installed the digital label press – which it chose with an additional flexo unit and a semi-rotary die cutting module – to accelerate job changeover times for increasingly shorter label runs.

Streamlining production and boosting profitability
Martin Chaluš, owner, Flexon, comments, “Given increasingly shorter orders and frequent changes in artwork, the importance of digital printing is growing, which is why we looked at installing a digital label press. Importantly, the custom composition of this new solution means that we now have a finished label that ‘falls out’ of the press needing only to be cut, saving us time, streamlining production and increasing profitability, and the Gallus One has now replaced up to two of our conventional presses. As a previous enemy of digital technology, if someone had told me that I would have two powerful digital machines by 2024, I wouldn’t have believed it. But today, it’s clear that smart, connected printing is key. Anyone who wants to stay in the market will need an appropriate combination of both digital and conventional technologies, it’s just a matter of proportion.”

Yeloprint of Szombathely, Hungary, installed a Gallus One in October 2024, also including two flexo units and a semi-rotary die-cutting unit. The company was looking to diversify its technology offering to provide faster, short and medium-length label jobs. Thanks to its successful experience with its Gallus TCS 250, the Gallus One was Yeloprint’s obvious choice – with the press offering one of the lowest TCOs on the market, as well the speed and print quality it was looking for.

“We needed additional capabilities to meet changing customer expectations for shorter runs, but didn’t want to invest in a large flexo machine. A digital press was the logical step,” comments Dávid Péter, owner, Yeloprint. “We chose the Gallus One because of its speed, quality, and its web transport system, with our previous Gallus systems providing a critical confidence in their solutions. Already, the Gallus One is our leading technology, and we calculate a return on investment within only two to three years.”

Driving digital adoption with Gallus MatteJet

Beyond the Gallus One and the addition of the System to Compose concept, Gallus also achieved a research breakthrough in 2024 with the announcement of Gallus MatteJet, which brings the possibilities of digital inkjet to the wine and spirits label market. Unlocking inline, cost-effective matte finishing, MatteJet addresses a key challenge that has historically restricted the growth of digital inkjet technology. The technology paves the way for customers to serve the premium label market, where sophisticated matte labels are crucial to many brands, without the need for external finishing processes or separate conventional machines.

“Alongside our parent company, Heidelberg, we had a successful 2024,” continues Urbinati. “Through its unique operational agility and flexibility to tackle evolving challenges, our System to Compose concept has really connected with customers, providing them an all-important confidence in meeting the changing industry dynamics. Drupa also saw us showcase important new developments such as the newest evolution of the Gallus One, offering a wider print width of 430mm and expanded color gamut for superior color fidelity.”

According to Urbinati, Gallus’ developments over the past year align perfectly with its ongoing commitment to spearheading market transformation. These efforts are bolstered by its cooperation with parent company Heidelberg, a total solution provider for the printing industry, with the full portfolio underpinned by a common Prinect workflow. “As adoption of our technologies accelerates, we look forward to not only advancing these existing solutions but sharing all-new strategic pipeline developments designed to address important gaps in the market and continue breaking down barriers to customer profitability and growth. We expect 2025 to be another important year in driving our industry forward.”