Mortsel, Belgium – Agfa Graphics today announced that Agfa's :Dotrix Modular digital press has been installed at Boehmer Box's LYFT Visual of Canada, a packaging printer that manufacture carton and packaging products, signage and POP materials. LYFT Visual were created out of parent company Boehmer Box in order to accommodate variable data projects. A digital environment, including the :Dotrix, was necessary to help brand owners make the most of their logos and designs in multiple applications.

The :Dotrix can print on virtually any substrate, from flexible film to carton stock made from materials as diverse as paper, boxboard, label stock, styrenes and PVC. The :Dotrix gave LYFT Visual the ability to provide high-quality packaging and other marketing materials simply and easily.

"Brand owners can easily repurpose their packaging graphics into signage and display materials, and produce these quickly on the digital press. This allows fast and low-cost production of a variety of support materials for the POS support market. These can include free standing inserts, retail-ready packaging, in-store banners and signage which are extensions of what consumer product goods companies need to procure", said Mark Caines, group president and COO, Boehmer Box. "We have created a value proposition that differentiates us in the marketplace and has allowed us to grow our business".

LYFT Visual were the first company in Canada to install the :Dotrix digital press, the speed of which will help the company reach its goal of producing two billion folding cartons a year. With the trend going towards shorter runs, variable data and higher quality, the :Dotrix gives LYFT a distinct advantage over their competitors in the Canadian folding carton market.

"Traditional flexo or UV offset printing is expensive and time consuming to reach 'make-ready' on press. Historically, that was not so important so long as the run lengths could stay long enough. However, for some time the trend has been towards progressively shorter and shorter runs. This trend has allowed digital UV inkjet and the :Dotrix to find an important place in the market and help companies like LYFT Visual stand apart", said Richard Barham, Vice President, Inkjet, Agfa Graphics.

The :Dotrix digital UV inkjet press, with a printing width of 63cm, is the most productive UV, single-pass printing press in the industry. :Dotrix is the only digital press able to print with high production capacity on a wide variety of substrates ranging from flexible foils, 20 micron over self-adhesives, to folding cartons up to 600 micron. With its modular construction, traditional UV flexo printing stations that can serve as coating and varnishing alleys can be added to the roll-to-roll basic configuration. Slitting and die-cutting as well as sheeter installations can also be integrated to complete the system.