Baker Labels installs first Durst Tau G3 Peak in the UK

Baker Labels has emerged as the first UK converter to install the Durst Tau G3 Peak. The press was delivered to the converter’s Brentwood facility on August 24.

The Durst engineering team spent the next few days getting everything into position, carrying out the installation and working through the commissioning process. The main installation was subsequently completed and attention had moved on to trials, operator training and, importantly, putting real work through the press. Baker Labels has already run the first official customer job, making the new press part of everyday production. This is also a significant investment specifically in the future of Baker Labels. There’s been plenty of growth and investment across the wider Bakers business, but labels remain at the heart of what it does – and opportunity abounds.

Investing in a second Durst press

The G3 Peak joins Bakers’ existing Durst Tau RSC 340 LED, which has become an important part of digital label production since it was installed.

Earlier this year, Tom Baker and technical manager Jamie Godson traveled to Durst’s headquarters in Brixen, Italy, to look at the next generation of Tau technology. There, they agreed on the investment.

“We knew we wanted more capacity, but the conversation developed beyond simply adding another digital press,” states Baker Labels. “By the time the final specification was agreed, we had chosen to go considerably wider.”

The new Tau G3 Peak has a 510mm web width, and that decision is an important part of why this investment is interesting to Bakers. The extra width gives the converter a straightforward production advantage: more output and more flexibility in how jobs are planned across the press.

During a recent visit to Bakers, Durst’s Simon Cosh described the move to 510mm as taking the investment “to another level.” It gives the Bakers’ label operation more capacity while keeping the agility it needs to handle a varied mix of work.

“It’s obviously a positive statement in terms of how successful the first press has been,” says Cosh. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been discussing a second press. For us, it’s fantastic to have our technology endorsed by Bakers. Your reputation goes before you in the marketplace, so that endorsement is a massive boost for us.”

Adding speed

The G3 Peak can run at speeds of up to 79 m/m across all colors.

That matters because speed is only genuinely useful if it can be maintained on the sort of work customers are actually asking Bakers to produce.

Alongside that speed, Bakers’ press has been specified with double white, giving the company more scope on applications where strong opacity or layered white effects are required.

There are plenty of headline specifications on a machine like this, but it’s really the way the individual features work together that makes the difference on the factory floor, the company notes.

Enhanced automation

There’s a lot of automation built into the G3 Peak, and three areas are particularly interesting to Bakers: Hawk AI, Material Edge Protection, and the Durst Imaging System.

Hawk AI monitors print performance while the press is running, supporting automatic nozzle compensation and color registration. It is designed to help maintain consistency without relying on constant manual intervention from the operator.

Material Edge Protection does something rather different. It helps prevent the edge of the substrate coming into contact with the printheads, protecting one of the most critical parts of the press while the web is moving through at production speed.

Meanwhile, the Durst Imaging System uses three cameras to monitor the web and support material calibration. It’s another example of the direction Durst is taking the technology: using automation not just to run faster, but to help maintain quality and consistency, as well.