Barely one year after the presentation of the ebeam Compact at Drupa 2016, the Comet Group is showcasing yet another development milestone within the Print segment at LABELEXPO EUROPE 17. Visitors to the trade fair will witness the unveiling of the Group’s end-to-end inkjet production line “GAIA” with integrated inline ebeam curing, which was developed together with its industry partners Uteco Converting and INX Digital International to ensure the safe mass-personalization of food packaging and labels.

A digital narrow-web solution, GAIA will enable safe mass-personalization of indirect food contact flexible packaging and labels, including product personalization, short run market testing, print-on-demand or print-per-event and local area snap promotions. The GAIA production line has been created through combining Uteco’s expertise in web handling, INX Digital’s longstanding expertise in the customization and integration of digital technologies and print engines, and an ebeam curing module from the Comet Group. The system will be distributed by Uteco and uses recently developed photoinitiator-free inkjet ebeam-curable inks from INX Digital.

Small footprint, great efficiency
The use of inline ebeam curing offers  many advantages in packaging and label printing, such as printing including a significantly lower energy requirement compared to thermal curing as well as a faster time-to-market, allowing for the elimination of a lengthy drying stage and storage before cutting, for example. What’s more, ebeam curing produces virtually no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and eliminates the need for solvents. Thanks to its compact design, ebeam can also be seamlessly integrated into most print environments.

ebeam technologies was invited to the Label Industry Global Awards 2017, where it was presented with the Sustainability Award.

“At ebeam, we believe true technological innovation can only be achieved through collaboration, and GAIA is the latest proof point of this. In working with our partners to bring this new digital narrow-web solution to market, we believe that the energy-efficient, environmentally friendly, fast and space-saving process ensures that the sky is the limit for package designers and brand owners when it comes to the exciting and differentiating world of personalization and variable printing. We see receiving the Sustainability Award as both a confirmation of all of the hard work that has gone into this concept as well as motivation to continue with our efforts,” said Charles Flükiger, President of ebeam Technologies.