Prototype & Productions Systems, Inc. (PPSI) will be showing live printing with three distinct examples of its DICE™ inkjet technology at Labelexpo Americas 2016 in Rosemont, IL, September 13-15, 2016.

• The DICEweb system adds high-resolution UV color inkjet printing to existing roll-to-roll equipment. It converts almost any existing flexo press to a hybrid printer that combines the best of flexo printing – for special colors, whites, pre-coats and varnishes – with up to 6 colors of digital print. Best of all, it allows printers to use their existing investments in finishing equipment, registering the digital print to inline die-cutting or sheeting equipment, without the need to move rolls.
• A custom DICEpress printer will be shown as an example of PPSI’s ability to design inkjet print systems that are tailored to a customer’s unique requirements. The  DICEpress printer on display features 12.5 inch (317mm) wide CMYK printing, expandable to 15 inches (381mm), on an 18 inch web, with servo-driven unwind and rewind modules. The printer includes an accumulator that allows the web to back up to avoid wasting material, and a lamination station. The modular design of the DICEpress allows the easy addition of coating or flexo print stations, and semi-rotary or rotary die-cutting systems.
• Electron Beam (EB) drying technology from ebeam Technologies (formerly PCT Systems) will be featured in a proof-of-concept demonstration of food-safe digital printing of labels and packaging. A DICElab printer that uses EB-curable inkjet inks to print onto a multi-layer flexible packaging film will be shown together with an ebeam Inkjet Dryer unit. By avoiding the potentially harmful photo initiators used in UV-curable inks, EB printing has the potential to allow short-run, variable-data printing of food packaging materials.

The wide range of applications of its core DICE™ inkjet technology highlights PPSI’s skills as the custom automation company for industrial-strength digital printing solutions. According to company president Chuck Raymond, “Many of our projects are for large consumer goods companies who prefer to remain anonymous, so it’s always a pleasure to be able to show our inkjet integration capabilities at Labelexpo.”