Itasca, IL, September 24, 2008 - Xeikon (www.xeikon.com), a division of Punch Graphix, legendary for pioneering the first digital color presses, announced today that it had an extremely successful Labelexpo Americas 2008.

The Xeikon booth was the hub of activity throughout the show. With a continuous stream of visitors, it was one of the major attractions in the Digital Experience Hall. Xeikon’s latest digital color label technology platform received a very positive feedback from label converters who were impressed with its productivity, image quality and eco-friendliness. Many label converters were of the opinion that the Xeikon technology is truly inimitable as it combines the best characteristics of flexography and short-run digital. In addition, the industry experts recognized the innovative capabilities of the Xeikon solution and bestowed the company with the New Innovation Award at the Label Industry Global Awards gala held during the show.

At the show, the company demonstrated the Xeikon 3300 digital label press that was unveiled at drupa earlier this year. The show also marked the launch of the Xeikon 3000, the entry level counterpart of the Xeikon 3300. The Xeikon 3300 ran almost non-stop throughout the show, a unique feat, and produced more than 65,000 linear feet of labels. This one-of-a-kind performance displays its robustness and high volume production capabilities. All these labels were die-cut, UV-Coated, super-glossed and rewound on a converting unit running inline with the Xeikon 3300. 

Xeikon also participated in multiple panel discussions in the Digital Experience Hall. During these discussions, attendees were able to direct specific questions to the Xeikon experts and increase their understanding of the digital label technology in general and the Xeikon offerings in particular.

At Labelexpo, the Xeikon 3300 produced labels containing the four standard process colors as well as labels containing spot red and opaque white colors, all on the same production set-up. The booth visitors were impressed with the vivid color reproduction, perfect color registration and color consistency of these labels. They were also amazed by the fact that the speed of the Xeikon 3300 is independent of the number of colors that are required for a specific job, one of the many unique capabilities of the Xeikon technology that make it the most productive digital color label press available on the market today. In addition, Xeikon’s “one hit” opaque white capability to create that sought after ‘no label look’ attracted a lot of attention.

Another unique characteristic of the Xeikon 3300 that booth visitors were able to experience first-hand is that it can print on virtually any label stock, including self-adhesive label stock, unsupported film, paperboard and even uncoated paper. This last option is especially attractive to price sensitive label converters who do not want to use expensive over-laminates on their substrates. Moreover, the Xeikon 3300 can handle substrate weights from 40 gsm (27 lb text) to 350 gsm (122 lb cover), providing unparalleled range of substrate options to its users.

According to Michael V. Ring, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Xeikon’s North American operations, “We are extremely pleased and excited about the response we received at Labelexpo. Xeikon is one of the very few companies that provide fully automated and streamlined solutions for the label and packaging space, including our own dry toner and digital front-end technology.  We are looking forward to helping label converters acquire digital color capabilities to complement their current production set-ups.”

To provide a first-hand proof of Xeikon’s unique technological capabilities to label converters, the company has also started a “Do-the-benchmark” initiative. Under this initiative, label converters will be able to choose from certain selected label stocks and upload some of their own files to be printed on the Xeikon 3300. Label converters are encouraged to go to www.xeikon.com for participation.