Lier, Belgium, July 11, 2003 - At Labelexpo Europe 2003 (Brussels, September 24-27) Xeikon will be prominently present on a 104 square meter stand (stand nr. 11 R 60) where the company demonstrates its digital label production solution LabelSprint. LabelSprint is based on the digital web press Xeikon DCP 320 S, working in combination with in-line finishing. LabelSprint was first introduced at Labelexpo 2001 in Brussels and proved to be a successful concept. The configuration shown at this year's Labelexpo contains a range of improvements and updates, which make the system even more reliable, versatile and productive. The Xeikon DCP 320 S press is the 32 or 33 cm (12.6" or 13") wide digital web press, printing in 5 colors: CMYK and white. The 5th color station can now also be used to print with a dedicated, specially produced spot color toner like orange, green, special company colors or security toners. The press prints at the full speed of 14.7 m/minute (48 ft/minute) or at the half speed of 7.35 m/minute (24 ft/minute). The press is equipped with a special contact fuser to allow printing on a wide range of typical labelstock: paper, PP, polyesters or other synthetic media. 600 x 600 dpi printing at 16 grey levels per dot guarantees the well-known high offset print quality look of the Xeikon presses. The in-line finishing line contains a UV coating system, including a lamination unit and performs other labelling finishing functions such as rotary die-cutting, slitting, stripping and rewinding. The line can be extended with sheeting, foil stamping and adhesive coating functions. The flexibility of the press is matched with the ease of operation of the in-line finishing street. Installing new die-cutting sleeves or other operations are executed in seconds and the entire operation can be controlled via a comprehensive touch-screen interface. The operator can switch from one job to another without halting the system. The configuration is completed with a digital web guiding system and a video-inspection system for more control and accuracy. In- line finishing with the Xeikon press offers the advantage of having a complete label production street at a small footprint, managed completely with only one operator. The entire configuration is powered by the new Xeikon IntelliStream 3.6 digital front end. This powerful front-end RIPs the digital files, provides all print control functions like color matching, imposition or step-and-repeat, and allows for printing high volumes of variable data - including the new variable data standard PPML. This front end makes the RIPping of complex jobs like many language versions or large volumes of different barcodes very fast. "The Xeikon LabelSprint solution is the reference in the industry for productive digital label printing," says Frank Jacobs, Xeikon International Manager Product Management and Support. "Compared to traditional litho or flexo presses, Xeikon digital label printing is more cost-effective up to about 1,000 meters (3,000 feet). The quality is superb and in many cases superior. Moreover, fast turnaround label jobs can be best produced with Xeikon digital systems because press set-up times are reduced to virtually zero. With these key elements - quality, cost and speed - label printers can broaden their services and add value for their customers." Xeikon label customers are amongst the most successful digital printers today. Label printers who captured the advantages of Xeikon digital label production, now run very profitable digital businesses and most of them have installed a 2nd or even a 3rd system. Besides the on-show production of a range of typical digital label applications, Xeikon displays a range of typical label applications and special Xeikon customer applications.