During Gallus Innovation Days, held September 23-25 at company headquarters in St. Gallen, Switzerland, the narrow web printing press manufacturer officially launched its new digital inkjet printing press platform for the label market, the Gallus DCS 340.

Developed by Gallus as a joint project with parent company Heidelberg, along with inkjet technology partner Fujifilm, the Gallus DCS 340 uses up to 64 Fujifilm Dimatix UV printheads that print using an extended gamut of seven colors (CMYK, plus orange, violet and green, among which green is under development, plus white ink) at a resolution of 1,200 dpi and speeds up to 50 meters per minute (164 feet).

“We are pursuing a growth strategy in our digital printing operations,” says Heidelberg CEO Gerold Linzbach. “Today, less than twelve months after we started our collaboration with Fujifilm, we can stand alongside Gallus and unveil the first print-ready system. The only way to rapidly leverage growth potential in digital printing is through partnerships. This helps us get a lot closer to our medium-term sales targets in the digital sector.”

Having recently completed its takeover of Gallus, Heidelberg has reinforced its commitment to the growth segment of digital label printing. Ferdinand Rüesch, former owner of Swiss-based Gallus Holding AG, supports the strategic realignment that Heidelberg is pursuing. With a total stake of around nine percent, he is the company’s biggest individual shareholder. He says, “It was the right time to take this step. It is only by working with a strong partner such as Heidelberg that Gallus can overcome the long-term challenges facing digital printing in our sector and still make full use of the potential that is out there.”

The newly unveiled digital printing system has been designed for the self-adhesive labels market, with global print volume for these labels growing by around four percent annually. Although only around five percent of this volume is printed digitally, this figure is rising rapidly. Indeed, digital printing is driving change in this promising market segment. It is anticipated that, in the medium term, just under half of the presses sold in this sector will be digital. By launching this new technology, Heidelberg and Gallus will be actively shaping change in the business models used in this segment and offering users a versatile and cost-effective solution.

“Due to continuing growth in short-run label production and personalised, versioned labels, we are seeing investment on the market steadily shift towards printing presses that utilize digital printing. The growth potential for this printing method is considerable and we expect to see high growth rates over the next ten years,” comments Stefan Heiniger, COO, Label Business, Gallus.

Heidelberg will manufacture the inkjet units of the new press at its facility in Wiesloch-Walldorf, Germany, while the flexo and converting units will be produced at the Gallus plant in St Gallen, Switzerland.