Xeikon has announced that South Korean self-adhesive label converter HANA Graphic Art Co., Ltd. has chosen the Xeikon 3030Plus as its first digital press. The converter says it chose this press to meet increasing customer demand for short run jobs while ensuring maximum cost efficiencies.

HANA Graphic Art is a producer of self-adhesive labels featuring variable data such as bar codes and numbering, and addresses high-end FMCG companies and produces labels for industrial companies. Servicing customers like LG Electronics, the company operates from its headquarters in Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea and has subsidiary plants in Mexico and in North America. Since last year, HANA Graphic Art began to receive customer orders for short run jobs that require much faster turn-around and delivery time as well as less deficiencies. While its current letterpress and offset equipment have been serving it well, the company says it realized the need for a product that can manage the cost structure of short run production, such as reductions in makeready time, defect and wastage.

To fulfill these requirements, HANA Graphic Art decided to invest in its first digital press and placed an order with Xeikon for the Xeikon 3030Plus digital label press in September 2012. Since the installation in January 2013, HANA Graphic Art has been running the Xeikon 3030Plus in a roll-to-roll configuration with offline finishing/converting. As the press is a full rotary machine, the converter says it is not limited by label length and can print labels with a maximum web width of 330mm at 15m/min. With the five-color Xeikon 3030Plus, HANA Graphic Art says it is now in a position to meet its customers’ needs and produce more demanding jobs, that also include spot colors, opaque white to create the no-label look on transparent label and security features. Xeikon toners are also compliant with FDA food-approval regulations.

“Xeikon has cutting edge technology and constantly innovates,” says Doh, who manages the HANA digital business unit. “The top quality digital press runs on Xeikon’s QA-I toner, enabling us to print on a wide range of substrates without the need of pre-treatment, including paper labels as well as BOPP or PET labels. Being able to choose among a wide selection of substrates available in our area is crucial for us because of our customers’ requirements.”