Boxmeer, Netherlands - SPGPrints has expanded its commitment to Italy’s label printing industry by appointing NTG Digital, the Milan- and Rome-based agency, as official distributor for its digital UV-inkjet printing programme. As a result of the agreement, NTG Digital will distribute SPGPrints’ DSI® digital label press, digital inks and related products. 

With its team of 12 staff, NTG Digital offers comprehensive technical support and consultancy on behalf of suppliers to the graphics and publishing industries. For the last two decades, the company has played a significant role in promoting digital printing to Italian printers, and in 1996 was responsible for introducing the first presses to both commercial and label printers. The company has also applied its extensive computer-to-plate experience to develop dedicated software packages for flexo, label and packaging workflows.  

Bas Hoijtink, commercial manager graphics at SPGPrints, comments: “NTG’s expertise in digital workflows is second-to-none, and they have a proven ability to provide high quality support to customers of brand-leaders at a national level. For these reasons, we felt that NTG was the ideal partner in our mission to make high-performance digital workflows more accessible to the Italian label converter.”

Introduced in 2008, SPGPrints’ modular DSI® digital UV inkjet printer offers a productive solution for short-run, variable data and personalized labels for a wide range of retail goods and industrial applications. Top speeds are 700m²/hour and it is available in widths from 135mm to 530mm. Standard features include intermediate inline LED pinning, and a chill drum to enable stable, undistorted processing of heat-sensitive plastic substrates. In addition to standard CMYK stations, customers can specify or retrofit up to six print stations, including opaque white with industry-leading 93% optical density, orange and violet, spot colours and a digital primer to maximize substrate compatibility.

Ignazio Binetti, director of sales and marketing at NTG Digital, comments: “The Italian label printers are facing a strong demand for short runs and more personalized solutions. Digital printing, therefore, is of vital importance.  SPGPrints, with its custom-built DSI press and optimized inks, offers the flexibility to deliver brand-enhancing solutions on the widest range of print media. Our dedicated and experienced service teams will assure SPGPrints’ customers the highest level of support at every stage.”

SPGPrints is the only European digital press manufacturer to produce in-house its own proprietary UV-curable inks. SPGPrints added low-migration inks to its digital ink portfolio to encourage adoption of UV-inkjet printing technology for food packaging.   

The DSI can be specified as a stand-alone printer or a custom-built single-pass printing, finishing and converting line, with integrated flexo varnishing and semi-rotary die-cutting.