Itasca, IL - Xeikon, a division of Punch Graphix, today announced that Ramsey, MN-based Diamond Graphics, a plastic card manufacturer for pre-paid solutions, has purchased and installed a Xeikon 5000plus digital color press.

In business for more than ten years, Diamond Graphics offers start-to-finish card solutions, catering to the telecommunications, direct mail, and pre-paid/stored value gift card industries. The company, which prints more than 250 million cards a year, is capable of printing, ink-jetting, encoding, and packaging. In the fall of 2009, Diamond Graphics made its first investment in digital print technology with the purchase of a Xeikon 5000plus. Diamond Graphics will use the Xeikon press to print an array of cards, including loyalty cards, gift cards, phone cards, and membership ID cards. The cards will be printed on Teslin, a special synthetic substrate.

"After extensive research, we chose a press that offers high speed and productivity with superior quality output and is capable of printing large volumes of cards," said Bob Montgomery, National Sales Manager of Diamond Graphics. "The Xeikon 5000plus met all of our criteria. And, on top of that, the Xeikon service team helped to seamlessly integrate the press into our existing card-manufacturing operation. The implementation process was extremely easy, thanks to the Xeikon service team."

Diamond Graphics plans to print 150,000-200,000 Teslin cards per day on the Xeikon technology. "We're delighted that Diamond Graphics chose Xeikon's state-of-the-art printing technology to expand its card manufacturing capabilities," said Michael V. Ring, president of Punch Graphix Americas, Inc. "Diamond Graphics' card application is a prime example of how the Xeikon 5000plus can add value to a company's operations due to its substrate flexibility, high productivity and vivid quality."

The 5000plus comes equipped with the Xeikon Form Adapted (FA) toner technology, further raising the bar of its digital printing performance. The FA toner is eco-friendly with no hazardous emissions and is FDA-approved for indirect food contact. The Xeikon 5000plus has printing speeds of up to 137 letter-size pages per minute and monthly duty cycles of up to 4.2 million pages.