Electronics For Imaging (EFI), Silicon Valley, Calif., USA, this week announced that Complete Design & Packaging (CDP), an independent corrugated packaging provider based in Concord, N.C., USA, will be the first business in the U.S. to install EFI's breakthrough, ultra-high-speed production printing technology, the EFI™ Nozomi C18000 single-pass LED corrugated packaging press. CDP will use the six-color press for cost-effective, high-quality, direct-to-board digital printing that extends client brand presence in retail corrugated packaging.

 

Installation of the press is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2017, with production operations going live by the end of the year.

 

CDP's founder, Howard Bertram, started the business in 2002. Today, the company offers high-end analog flexo and litho lamination corrugated printing for retail packaging applications. CDP currently does some prototyping and very short-run digital work on a multi-pass flatbed inkjet printer, but after spending the past year examining emerging trends among clients and prospects, Bertram and his business partner, Scott Sumner, sought ways to help customers capture a broader range of brand-building opportunities with high-end, regionalized/localized, and customized packaging. 

 

"There are a lot of flexo and litho lamination options out there today, but customers face limitations in their marketing without digital printing, and as a young, independent company, we want to be on the leading edge of that offering," said Bertram, who is the president and co-owner of CDP. 

The quality CDP saw touring the world's first EFI Nozomi C18000 corrugated package converting installation in Spain gives Bertram and Sumner confidence in the press's ability to deliver higher-throughput, single-pass productivity to clients requiring exceptional printing for greater shelf appeal.

 

"We chose EFI because of its strengths in R&D and its commitment to make things happen in the industry," added Sumner, who is CDP's VP and co-owner. "In addition to the productivity that comes with single-pass printing on the Nozomi press, Fiery technology was definitely a selling point for us. We could see how EFI's legacy with digital print color management will be a big plus for us developing our digital packaging business."

 

They found that the 71-in.-wide EFI Nozomi C18000 single-pass press has the technology to deliver on that opportunity with its exceptional speed—up to 246 linear feet per minute with throughput up to 6,600 2.6-ft. x 3.3-ft. boards per hour. The EFI Fiery NZ-1000 high-performance digital front end (DFE) for the press, based on new, scalable Fiery XB bladed architecture, will provide fast, efficient job processing to eliminate downtime spent waiting for jobs. Plus, the new DFE platform offers advanced EFI Fiery job preparation and color management tools needed for superior quality.

 

CDP's customers include food and consumer product manufacturers in a wide range of industries, including the home improvement and home electronics fields. The packages the company produces can be found at The Home Depot, Sam's Club, and other warehouse clubs and big box stores throughout the Southeast. Over time, CDP will have the opportunity to help its customers drive greater sell-through and higher revenues using the Nozomi press to create high-impact, short- and medium-run regional- and demographic-focused designs that are not cost-effective to produce using analog processes.

 

The brands CDP serves will benefit from the press's capabilities to produce a wide color gamut with its six-color inkset, plus a white ink scheduled to be released shortly after the press is installed. The press's LED imaging capabilities provide brilliant, accurate color imaging on just about any board substrate, including traditional Kemi, mottled, bleached, and kraft materials. Packaging produced with the press is fully recyclable, with printed output meeting a leading industry standard — certification for OCC recyclability and repulpability from the Western Michigan University Recycling, Paper, and Coating Pilot Plant.

 

The award-winning press provides high-quality output with resolutions up to 360 x 720 dots per inch with four-level grayscale imaging. A 100% in-line inspection system on the press is tied to robust print optimization technologies, including inkjet nozzle, alignment, and uniformity correction for the highest possible imaging quality. Plus, the Nozomi press's permanent head architecture eliminates the downtime associated with replacing consumable printheads.

 

EFI is the only manufacturer to offer fully integrated top- and bottom-feed options for a digital corrugated packaging press. CDP's Nozomi press will feature this patented system, which handles media separation, lift, transport, and alignment at full press speeds with programmable features for faster, automatic feeding configurations on repeat jobs.

 

The EFI Nozomi C18000 single-pass LED inkjet press is part of a complete ecosystem for corrugated production available from EFI with leading edge inks, the Fiery DFE, and an EFI Corrugated Packaging Suite manufacturing execution system workflow. More information about advanced digital corrugated packaging production with EFI technologies is available online, or call (800) 875-7117.