The installation of an the EFI Nozomi C18000 single-pass press for direct-to-board printing will give Mid-America Display (the custom product display and signage division of St. Louis corrugated packaging provider Boxes, Inc.) unprecedented new capabilities for fast-turnaround and print-on-demand products that reduce the warehousing and waste associated with analogue printing.
Mid-America and Boxes, Inc.’s production capabilities currently include analogue direct-print flexo and litho-lamination as well as some short-run direct-to-digital printing. Presently scheduled to be installed and in production during the fourth quarter of 2018, the press significantly expands Mid-America’s digital capabilities for medium-run and versioned jobs that are too costly to produce using analogue processes. Mid-America’s customers, in turn, will be able to capitalise on a key trend that digital print makes possible: more-targeted, high-quality display campaigns that drive better marketing results.
‘I believe that digital is the future of the packaging and display industry and the future is now,’ said Mid-America Display and Boxes, Inc. President and CEO Mike Patton. ‘We strive for excellence in all areas of our business and the EFI Nozomi has exceeded our expectations.’
Mid-America’s central U.S. location in St. Louis provides a strategic advantage in product distribution, as the company can efficiently and cost-effectively deliver products anywhere in the continental U.S. within two to four days. The new Nozomi press magnifies Mid-America and Boxes, Inc.’s capabilities in terms of delivering products wherever they are needed with shorter lead times and fast production cycles on new designs.
The award-winning press features a single-pass, piezo greyscale inkjet writing system that delivers accurate, high-fidelity colour, including excellent, consistent reproduction on solid areas.
With its 1.8m (71 inch) printing width, the EFI Nozomi press takes digital corrugated printing to new levels of productivity, operating at speeds up to 75 linear metres (246 linear feet) per minute to print up to 10,000 890 x 890mm (35 x 35 inch) boards per hour, two-up. Mid-America’s press will offer superior-quality, expanded-gamut imaging with matte, satin or glossy finishes with six-colour process imaging, plus white ink.
EFI’s Fiery NZ-1000 – the ultra-fast digital front end (DFE) print server and production system used to drive the press – is a bladed-architecture, high-performance offering that features industry-proven job management, variable-data printing, versioning, and automation tools for peak operator efficiency. The Fiery DFE also includes advanced tools for colour consistency, colour accuracy, and advanced colour management for Mid-America to reliably and faithfully reproduce essential brand colours in its clients’ high-value display graphics campaigns.
EFI www.efi.com
