CCL Label Adds Digital Press

CCL Label has launched digital printing at its Hightstown, NJ, facility for printing labels, shrink sleeves, and other products for the pharmaceutical market. The converter showcased its latest digital printer--an HP Indigo ws4500--at an open house for customers late last year.

CCL Label has 17 facilities serving the pharma market around the world for which it has installed 14 Indigo digital presses over the past ten years. In the United States, the converter runs HP's newest model, the HP Indigo ws6000, at facilities in Upland, CA, Toronto, and Cidra, Puerto Rico, says Rob Ryckman, vice president, marketing and sales, CCL Label Global Healthcare Group.

The digital printing capacity addresses accelerating demand globally for on-demand digital label printing, Ryckman says.

We have plans to install 10 or 12 more Indigo presses. CCL Label pioneered the development of digital printing for labels back when digital printing used sheet-fed presses. All of our models today are roll to roll, Ryckman says.

Shorter biotech and pharma production runs have fueled growth in digital printing services. There is a big push by pharma toward less inventory and less obsolescence due to copy changes. Companies want to order more often, in smaller quantities, and with shorter lead times, Ryckman says.

Digital printing offers lower costs for shorter runs, when total label and printing costs are considered. Digital is typically cost-effective for fewer than 50,000 units at a time, with the caveat that it may suit larger runs for certain jobs. You really have to look at the total footage to account for press speeds and set-up times, Ryckman says.

The quantity after which flexography is more efficient is determined by factors such as the number of colors required, the extent of variable printing, and the size of the label.

Flexo runs at three times the speed of digital, and the flexo presses are wider so they can accommodate larger labels (with more labels across). You can run a lot of footage more quickly. Digital costs more per label, but the set up time is considerably shorter, and scrap and inventory costs are minimized, he says.

In the market served by Hightstown, the converter was shipping digitally printed rolls to local customers from other facilities. Our strategy is to serve our customers with a consistent quality of product globally, with local delivery. With this new addition, we can ensure that local customers get quick turn around on the appropriate product and services they need from a local resource, Ryckman says.

This article was originally published in the January 7th ePackage Newsletter by David Vaczek, Senior Editor. To subscribe to the monthly enewlsetter, click here.