Digital press maker Xeikon has announced that the company has received the 2012 InterTech Technology Award for its X-800 VariLane, a software add-on to the Xeikon X-800 Digital Front-End. The X-800 VariLane has been specifically designed to provide label printers greater flexibility in the production of labels, and greater profit opportunities.

The InterTech Technology Awards, which are sponsored by the Printing Industries of America, recognize the development of technologies that are predicted to have a major impact on the graphic arts and related industries. More than 80 percent of the technologies that have received this award experience continued commercial success in the marketplace, according to the Printing Industries.

“Label printers face an enormous challenge to remain competitive in today’s world of increasing consumer choice, and they require technologies that will enable them to maximize productivity and efficiency,” said Wim Maes, CEO of Xeikon NV. “What makes the X-800 VariLane such a compelling technology for label printers is the fact that it allows them to combine labels of different sizes and different SKUs within the same print job, reducing setup times and lowering costs. It’s a great honor to see the value of this technology recognized with an InterTech Technology Award.”

The X-800 VariLane technology, which is the culmination of several years of research and development, is specifically designed for the Xeikon 3000 Series of digital label presses. It represents a major leap forward in optimizing the post-RIP (raster image processing) phase of the prepress operation, taking full advantage of the flexibility and speed offered by the Xeikon 3000 Series.

With traditional technologies, more complex label orders mean more challenges with imposition, which refers to the prepress process where labels are arranged on the web roll when it’s prepared for production. Prior to the VariLane technology being introduced, labels had to be equal in size, which also meant that the print lanes needed to be equal in size. The X-800 VariLane technology greatly simplifies this process with digital imposition templates. Labels with different SKUs and different sizes can be printed within the same print run.