Epson America has announced that Best Label Inc., a privately-owned label manufacturer on the West Coast with facilities in Mexico and California, has purchased and installed the Epson SurePress L-6034VW to expand its short-run label printing offerings for customers in several markets, including food, beverage, health, beauty, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, sports, automotive, agricultural, and chemical manufacturing. Best Label purchased the SurePress to produce high-quality, custom, pressure-sensitive labels printed on a variety of media.

“As a prime label manufacturer geared mainly towards producing high-quality four-color-process labels, we needed a digital label press that would not only help us with the short-run label market, but also with producing high-quality labels and minimizing our waste,” said John Crammer, general manager, Best Label, Inc. “We selected the Epson SurePress L-6034VW based on the list of criteria we had from years of looking into the digital arena – its print head technology, hardware inside the printer, and LED UV curing inks that are used in the printing process – Epson truly owns the entire manufacturing process and helped cut substrate costs, which is a very large factor for us.”

As Epson’s first single-pass industrial press, the first to use Epson’s PrecisionCore linehead technology, and the first to use Epson’s low migration LED UV curing ink, the L-6034VW is designed to deliver precise quality and high-speed printing ideal for short- to mid-run jobs. Delivering high-quality, scratch and weather resistance labels, the L-6034VW integrates functions required for label production, including a Corona Treater, White ink, and an additional UV curing unit. In addition, unique to the Epson L-6034VW, with digital varnish ink, a gloss or matte finish can be selected for the overall label, and appealing partial accents can even be added using glossy or matte spot varnish.

“The Epson SurePress L-6034 is truly a piece of equipment that is plug-and-play. You’re able to bring it into your facility, very simply migrate the work that fits that application, and ultimately produce a short-run label product that is extremely high-quality in an extremely efficient and timely manner,” says Travis Gilkey, sales and marketing manager, Best Label, Inc. “The press itself does a great job printing on multiple different substrates, which is a game changer for us and for our customers. With the SurePress L-6034VW, you can print on everything from regular paper to matte litho, felt papers, metallized papers, and both paper and metallized film. In addition, we’re able to use opaque white on clear and silver. All of this together makes it a great appeal for us and for our customers.”

“Most other digital, if not all of the other digital solutions in the marketplace require an offline coating of these materials; with the SurePress, you don’t need that,” continues Gilkey. “There is no primer, no topcoat, no additional expense of coating or prepping the material – it’s just a phenomenal advantage because you just don’t have that associated cost with the SurePress.”

The Epson PrecisionCore linehead is the key component behind the high performance, high reliability of the SurePress L-6034VW. In addition, the flexibility to print high-opacity UV White ink first or last helps image impact on clear and metallic substrates, and expands the variety of labels that Best Label can produced.

“Epson’s SurePress is automated to the point where it tells you if there’s an error or if you’ve run into any issues while it’s printing, as well as conducting autocleaning on its own, which saves us valuable maintenance time,” says Samuel Chao, digital manager, Best Label, Inc. “Our partnership with Epson has also made our whole digital experience much smoother – from trouble shooting to quick reaction time.”

“We are thrilled when an industry leader such as Best Label, that prides itself on providing the highest quality products possible, leverages the Epson SurePress for its short-run label printing needs,” said Mike Pruitt, product manager, SurePress, Epson America, Inc. “The SurePress L-6034VW is designed to make the adoption of digital short-run label printing easier, and with advanced technologies like digital varnish, allows printing companies like Best Label to deliver a new label look for brands at an affordable cost compared to spot varnish.”

TheEpson SurePress L-6034VW features include:

• Substrate Feed: Center drum system feeds the substrate with incredible precision to minimize color unevenness and reduce the heat expansion or shrinkage of the substrate, enabling various types of off-the-shelf standard flexographic substrates to be used
• Variable Web Width: Supports rolls from 3.15 to 13-inches wide up to 0.013-inches (0.32 mm) thick
• Enhanced Productivity: Time-consuming, short-run jobs can be transferred to the SurePress for more flexibility and timely results at speeds up to 49.2 feet per minute with vibrant color, smooth gradations and ultra-fine text, lines and images