PRESS RELEASE

28 February 2012

Cannock, UK

Mercian Labels Group launch digitally printed folding cartons

With unique features and variable data now ever more frequently demanded in the carton industry, the Mercian Labels Group have today announced the launch of their latest innovative new service at the Packaging Innovations Exhibition in Birmingham, UK. Using the latest Xeikon 3000 series digital platform and a unique new inline conversion process, the company are now delivering variable data and multiple designs onto printed folding cartons, cost effectively in short runs.

Managing Director Dr Adrian Steele said “The conventional sheet fed litho manufacturing process for printed folding cartons limits the creativity that brands wish to incorporate into their packaging. Digital printing permits the inclusion of personalised content on every pack, with infinite versions for trials as well as inclusion of unique brand protection features. The Xeikon imaging technology we use offers fantastic full colour 1200dpi quality using light-fast and FDA approved food-safe toners.”

The samples on show at the Easyfairs Packaging Innovations Exhibition are printed on high quality 400 micron folding cartonboard, and incorporate a number of security features such as microtext, variable barcodes and variable text and numbering.

“The Mercian Labels Group have combined digital print with an innovative and unique converting process to print and die cut the cartons in a single pass that is ready for conventional folding and gluing. Die origination is cheap and fast, and we are looking to bring lead times down to those offered to our labelling customers, typically being 3-5 days from artwork approval”, said Adrian.

“We expect this new service, which we believe to be the first of its kind in the UK, to attract excitement and interest from brands of all sizes looking to differentiate their offering using their printed cartons.”

“Our labelling experience shows us that customers who have taken advantage of the benefits of digital printing have seen significant increases in their businesses as multiple SKUs appealing to smaller but higher value niche markets becomes cost effective. We expect a similar trend to happen in printed folding cartons.”

“As the market leader in multi-design labelling in the UK we have an established track record of bringing the advantages of digital print to the labelling market, and we are now expanding this into new and innovative forms of packaging as well.”

Applications will include prototyping, market tests, short run batches, security packaging and unique direct marketing content.

Further details of the new service are available at www.digitalcartonprinting.co.uk

—ENDS—

Notes to Editors:

Further information available at www.mercianlabels.com

Contact: Lynne Hathaway at +44 1543 431095, lynne.hathaway@mercianlabels.com

PRESS RELEASE
28 September 2011
Lier, Belgium & Cannock, UK

Mercian Labels Invests in Second Xeikon Digital Industrial Printing Press

The Mercian Labels Group, Cannock, UK, has completed its latest investment with the purchase and installation of a new Xeikon 3300 digital label press. The new press which is due to be commissioned shortly is the company’s second investment in Xeikon digital printing equipment.

Dr Adrian Steele, Managing Director of The Mercian Labels Group said: “Investing in a second Xeikon machine at this time in the economic cycle is the right decision for both our customers and us.  We are in business to make money, and the increased capability of the Xeikon 3300 machine will bring a new dimension to our short-run labelling division, which will make us more profit.

“The increased four-colour speed with inline converting delivers a real productivity benefit to us as lead times from artwork approval to dispatch are now always under three days.  Our workload in 2011 has been getting increasingly erratic and spiky, but that’s the way we like it as our competitors can’t react as quickly as we can!”

“The vibrancy of the colour matching with Xeikon’s QA-I toner is also an attraction, as is the 1200dpi resolution that more than meets the expectations of our market.  By again committing to the Xeikon platform we believe that it gives us a genuine competitive advantage – we run the fastest short-run labelling service in the UK with a 98% on-time in-full (OTIF) performance, and with the Xeikon 3300 we can now also deliver the highest quality print to our customers.  It’s a compelling offer to our 9,000 trade and end-user customers.”

The purchase decision was aided by Xeikon’s continued focus on working with conventional substrates, rather than the extra costs and production time incurred by applying coatings to printing materials, as well as the use of Xeikon’s X-800 workflow technology. “The X-800 system is something that our operational team are already used to, and a solution that works well,” added Dr Steele.

Commenting on the purchase decision by The Mercian Labels Group, Filip Weymans, Xeikon’s Business development manager for labels and packaging products, said: “We are, of course, delighted that a company with such a high profile in the industry as The Mercian Labels Group has confirmed its commitment to Xeikon technology for the production of high quality printed self-adhesive labels. We see this as a vote for Xeikon’s reliability and ability to meet tight deadlines – a point of difference that this customer focuses on.”

About The Mercian Labels Group

The Mercian Labels Group of companies are market leaders in the manufacture of LabelLock®™ seals, Gammatex®™ radiation indicators, high volume variable data and barcode labels, bespoke high security label seals and short-run custom printed labels. They operate from two manufacturing sites in the UK and benefit from over 9,000 business customers, exporting to over 20 countries across 6 continents.  The business prides itself on providing loyal customer service, and focuses on three day production turnaround for label orders from its short run labelling division. Mercian Labels is the preferred supplier of short-run labels to thousands of businesses throughout the UK.

For further details visit the www.mercianlabels.com web site or call 01543 431 070.

About Xeikon Label Printing Technology

The unique combination of 1200 x 3600 dpi addressability and 4-bit variable dot density offers rich colour depth and subtle contrasts. Sharp and crisp details can even enable the creation of micro text, an often used anti-counterfeiting tool.

The Xeikon 3000 Series uses the Pericles screening library. The screen ruling can be adjusted for every image element, resulting in images of the highest quality that are pleasing to the eye. An inline densitometer allows users to calibrate the press to ensure uniform and accurate colours and colour consistency between jobs and between presses.

The four process colours plus one of a range of standard or custom-made spot colours provide an extended colour gamut. Our one pass opaque white helps to create immaculate images on transparent and metallic label stock.

For further information on Xeikon products please e-mail infouk@xeikon.com or visit the www.xeikon.com web site.

ENDS

About Xeikon

A pioneer in digital printing, Xeikon designs, develops and delivers high-end digital colour printing systems for the industrial, document and commercial printing market segments. These systems are composed of advanced web-fed printing engines using LED-array-based, dry toner electrophotography, open workflow software, exclusive toner and other consumables. Xeikon’s production and R&D operations are based in Belgium and its solutions are distributed and supported through a worldwide sales and service network. Xeikon is a division of Punch Graphix. For more information, visit www.xeikon.com

For more information on Xeikon products in the UK please contact:

Russell J Hicks

Genesis Marketing Services

101 Hesketh Road

Yardley Gobion, Northamptonshire

NN12 7TX

Telephone: 01908 54 33 58

Mobile: 07885 852 428

e-mail: russ.hicks@genesis-marketing.com