In 2010, after 159 years, Danes will have the option to lick their stamps or not. Starting next year, Post Danmark (the Danish postal service) will offer self-adhesive stamps for the first time. Post Danmark has invested in a new MO-3300 press manufactured by Nilpeter, based in Slagelse, Denmark.

“We are investing in a new printing press, which can print both self-adhesive and traditional stamps, says Lene Reipuert, manager of Post Danmark, Stamps. “This will be the start of an entirely new chapter in the history of the Danish stamp.”

The Nilpeter press can accommodate the intaglio process for both traditional and self-adhesive stamps. “We are one of the few postal services in the world that still produces stamps by the intaglio process,” says Reipuert. “And that is a tradition we want to continue with this new printing press. In addition, it combines intaglio inline with a number of other printing techniques, such as offset, flexo, screen, and gravure printing. This configuration enables us to reproduce very high standards of artwork, together with highly sophisticated security features.”

As Nilpeter Sales Office Manager Steen Thøisen explains, the decision to invest in the MO-3300 press represents a new era for stamp production at Post Danmark: “By investing in an MO-3300, Post Danmark enjoys the broadest design reproduction possibilities that combination process printing has to offer, andthey have the freedom to choose between so many high-value printing processes. As a result, numerous high-value decorative and security features can be included on stamp designs, in-line and cost effectively.”

The press converts a wide variety of material types. While the previous single-process intaglio machine only printed on mono-web paper, the MO-3300 also converts synthetic materials, which in turn allows a whole new avenue of designs to be explored. The Finnish Postal Service, for example, is producing a stamp printed on a clear film, featuring a transparent “window” in the middle.

Stamp collection accounts for as much as 4 percent of Post Danmark’s stamp revenue, and for this reason several of the self-adhesive laminate producers developed a three-layer specialty product. This features two liners – a self-adhesive layer for easy, lick-free application, under a traditional wet-glue layer to which the stamp itself is attached.

“It has been most exciting to help Post Danmark in their efforts to phase in self-adhesive stamp production. For us, this is a new, highly promising application area, which has the potential to be adopted on a global basis. Our collaboration with Post Danmark instantly puts us at the forefront of this market,” says Lars Eriksen, owner, president & CEO of Nilpeter. “Until now,” he adds, “this printing sector has traditionally been a closed environment, heavily reliant on relatively few equipment suppliers. The arrival of the Nilpeter MO-3300 press finally gives this exclusive niche market an extra choice, with a new, versatile high-tech alternative.”