Altrif Label speeds up production with Xeikon CX500
Altrif Label, one of the leading companies in label printing in the Benelux and part of the St-Luc Labels & Packaging group, has increased its output with the Xeikon CX500. As the first beta-tester of the Xeikon CX500, Altrif Label aims to stay ahead at a technological level.
In its 35-year history, the company Altrif Label has acquired a solid reputation of a high quality and reliable label producer, with customers in more than 16 countries. COO Dion Goderie states that his company can meet every demand, especially since Altrif Label has joined the St-Luc Labels and Packaging group. “This group has printing companies in the Benelux and France, employs around 250 people and has a yearly turnover of 45 million euro. We can provide our customers with self-adhesive labels, booklets, multilayer labels, folding boxes, shrink films and flexible packaging. We can handle any assignment in the label and packaging field. Together with St-Luc, we offer offset, flexo, screen printing and digital printing. Our digital printing presses make us even more versatile. With our team of experts, we can produce short runs and short delivery time. We even print flexible packaging and shrink sleeves digitally. And we never compromise on quality.”
Altrif Labels produces labels for brand owners, among which several multinational corporations. The pharmaceutical industry is a large customer. Goderie: “We see a clear increase in the demand for digital print. Our customers are interested in good quality at a fair price and are not so much concerned about the techniques we use to make our products. Digital print however, gives us the tools we need to meet the demand for short runs and fast delivery.”
Market developments and the availability of new technology has radically changed the demand for labels and packaging. Today, a job of 10.000 labels is considered as a short run production. You can have 20 variants of the same brand on one label format, says Goderie. “It’s even possible to print unique personalised labels at full speed production. The demand for variable print is growing immensely. This requires in-house prepress and years of experience.”
Top quality at full speed
When the Xeikon CX500 was launched, Altrif Label was happy to perform a beta test. Goderie: “We need to stay ahead of the market, so it’s always good to be the first to try a machine like this. The Xeikon CX500 is as fast as the Xeikon CX3, which we also use. But on top of the full rotary printing speed of 30 meters per minute, the Xeikon CX500 has a unique web width of up to 520 mm.”
In terms of productivity, the Xeikon CX500 outperforms all high quality digital label presses for the production of larger sized labels and labels requiring opaque white or extended gamut. Goderie is very pleased with how the pilot test is going: “Quality must never be compromised and at this point, the Xeikon CX500 exceeds our expectations.
Industry 4.0 ready
With its dry toner technique Xeikon stands out, says Goderie. “The Cheetah technology is great for printing on unconventional substrates. When it comes to opaque white, the dry toner technique beats liquid toner every time. Some of our customers are part of the chemical industry, so we do a lot of production on synthetic substrates. Especially in that case dry toner gives us the quality we need.”
The machines of Xeikon are easy to use and the Xeikon CX500 is Industry 4.0 ready. Goderie: “We can have a new machine up and running in full production within a matter of weeks. The new possibilities of Industry 4.0 are tremendous, but you can only use them if you work with a partner you completely trust, such as Xeikon.”
Altrif Label has a long standing relationship with Xeikon. In 1998, the company was the first user in the Benelux of a digital Xeikon web press. Goderie: “Xeikon has always been a reliable partner. The lines of communication are short and they are there for us 24-7. We are always on the lookout for new markets and new techniques to meet new demands. The Xeikon CX500, again, gives us a head start. That’s why we consider investing in more Xeikon CX500 presses in the near future.”