Trumbull, Conn. - Oce, a Canon Group Company and an international leader in digital document management and delivery, today announced it has qualified several products produced by leading fiber paperboard producer M-real Corporation for the Oce Arizona Series of UV flatbed printers. To date the products qualified include Carta Elega and Carta Integra paperboard and Kemiart topsheet used in corrugate packaging applications.

The Oce Arizona Series of flatbed printers are very versatile in a variety of applications including digital packaging – from prototype creation to custom and short-run packaging on both paperboard and corrugate. By being able to print directly to rigid substrates up to two inches thick and a maximum eight foot by ten foot image area, the Oce Arizona Series of printers enables packaging companies and their customers to realize a host of digitally-derived benefits previously not cost effective when produced traditionally.

Oce North America Product Marketing Manager Randy Paar states, "Oce's qualification of the M-real products now provides packaging companies entering into digital packaging an immediate, high quality, proven result that not only works on the digital flatbed but traditional offset or flexographic presses as well. This means the brand owner can much more confidently and quickly sign-off on a prototype and then see it go into production knowing that the final result will be accurately reproduced on the very same media."

Qualification consisted of producing samples on the Oce Arizona printer at the Oce Knowledge Center in Itasca, IL followed by further evaluation by M-real. The resulting image quality and ink adhesion were exceptional using the Oce IJC256 Series inks, even when printed at high volume production speeds. Using the companion Oce ProCut digital cutting table for creasing and cutting, both ink and substrate demonstrated good structural performance with virtually no cracking, chipping or scuffing of the printed package with either paperboard or corrugated board. M-real Americas Technical Marketing Manager John Sarik states, "The samples of M-real's Carta Integra and Carta Elega FBB (Folding Box Board) produced on the Oce Arizona printer looked exceptional. They were presented at a company meeting where the images, screen work, and color reproduction were commented on as being top quality. Additionally, previous samples of Kemiart Lite and Kemiart Graph produced on the same printer as combined corrugated board showed very good color intensity, critical for POP display work, and fine detailed screening used in halftone reproductions."