April Print Shipments: Returning to Regular Seasonality (whattheythink.com)

The company that invented the copier, laser printing and print-on-demand is announcing another first in the world of print – a high speed, six station color press that combines four-color printing with up to two specialty dry inks in one printing pass. The Xerox Iridesse™ Production Press is the only digital press that can print metallic gold or silver dry ink, CMYK and clear dry ink in a single pass, giving print providers an immediate competitive edge in the growing digital print enhancement market. “Iridesse can do things no other digital production press can do, but it’s what it can do for our customers that’s most important,” said Ragni Mehta, vice president and general manager, Cut Sheet Business, Xerox. “We created the press to produce these special effects and digital enhancements cost effectively and in a simplified workflow so our customers can seize the market opportunity and grow their businesses.” Click Read More below for additional information.

Baldwin Technology - a world leader in providing process automation solutions, consumables and services for the print, packaging, textile and corrugated industries - has acquired QuadTech Inc., from its parent company, Quad/Graphics. With this acquisition, Baldwin adds all of QuadTech’s highly regarded technology and strategic locations across the Americas, Europe, China, Japan and India. QuadTech is a global leader in the design and manufacture of control systems that help commercial, newspaper, packaging and publication gravure printers improve their performance and productivity. Headquartered in Sussex, Wis., QuadTech maintains a worldwide network of sales and service operations, and sells automated systems in more than 100 countries. Click Read More below for additional information.

The trends in packaging printing are obvious: ever-declining run lengths, an increasing number of stock keeping units (SKUs) and more demanding embellishments to attract consumer attention – all of this against the backdrop of extremely short delivery times and sustainability. Special applications and the need for flawless production also add to the complexity. How can folding carton manufacturers manage this in a cost-effective way, even in Covid-19 pandemic times? Seeking an answer to this question, packaging printers in North America are increasingly investing in Heidelberg solutions for cost-effective production. “Since the onset of Covid-19 in March 2020, Packaging and Label Printers in North America have been very resilient against the downturn of the economy due to increased consumer demand for packaged goods in both grocery stores and pharmacies. Many of these printers have even grown during the crisis and are looking to invest or have recently invested in new machines and workflow from Heidelberg,” explains Felix Mueller, President of Heidelberg Americas.