Extremely fast and accurate 3.2-meter wide cutting table will be the highlight of a booth showing visitors “The New Dimension for Digital Finishing.”

Ghent, Belgium – Esko will launch a completely new Kongsberg digital finishing platform when it demonstrates the Kongsberg C64 at booth 1201 during the 2013 SGIA Expo, to be held October 23-25 in Orlando Florida. Esko will also display its new i-cut Production Console software interface for operating Kongsberg tables. 

Kongsberg C64: re-engineered for the 21^st century

SGIA will be the venue for the global launch of the new Kongsberg C digital finishing series. “This is not just a new Kongsberg table – it’s a completely re-engineered and redesigned platform for Kongsberg finishing systems. We call this the C-series after a decade of the highly successful and well known Kongsberg X-series,” enthuses Steve Bennett, Esko Vice President, Digital Finishing Business. “Among the many great new features, one of the eye catchers will be the innovative composite traverse technology that provides the fastest throughput along with the highest quality and precision in cutting and routing compared to all other systems of the same size. Just as impressive, the Kongsberg C provides the highest versatility for all sign, display and packaging applications. It does all this while making it easy to use the machine – from the new, simple interface to the ease of replacing tools on the table. Esko is dedicated to offering the best overall value, reconfirming Kongsberg systems as the product leader in their category.” At SGIA, Esko demonstrates the Kongsberg C64 model: it works with 126” wide x 126” long (3210mm by 3200mm) materials to accommodate today’s large format printing sizes. Also available is the Kongsberg C60 model to accommodate 126” wide x 63” long (3210mm x 1600mm) sizes.

i-cut Production Console: intuitive operating the Kongsberg table

Being previewed at SGIA is i-cut Production Console, a new, easier to use front-end to operate and manage the Kongsberg digital finishing systems. The i-cut Production Console is designed for all applications on all Kongsberg tables and will be demonstrated on a Kongsberg XN 24 at SGIA. 

SGIA: Powering your design to print to cut workflow. 

Esko features a wide range of integrated solutions for the sign and display industry, spanning from design to print to cut, with i-cut Suite.

Aside from the new Kongsberg C64 table, Esko’s popular line of cutting tables will be displayed on their booth. The lineup includes the Kongsberg XN, Esko’s most versatile, mid-range digital finishing device. Working with just about any substrate, from thin flexibles, to foam, to fluted materials, to rigid boards. The Kongsberg XN is perfect for any job or application. It can be easily configured for the widest range of applications: from kiss cutting to heavy-duty milling. Most important, the Kongsberg XN can be equipped with its very powerful, optional 3kW, water-cooled milling spindle, the MultiCUT- High Power, offering up to three times more milling productivity. The Kongsberg XN offers a variety of proven options including cutting registration to printed artwork, tool heads and tool inserts to extend flexibility, productivity add-ons like a material conveyor, an AutoFeeder or a Roll-Off unit. 

The Kongsberg i-XE 10 Auto is on display with a fully automated sheet feeder and off load stacker, specifically for the finishing of narrow format, prototype, sample and short-run digital printed materials – rolls or sheets. The sheet feeder system automatically loads and places printed materials on the table. The ‘Pick and Place’ automated stacker enables non-stop sorting, neatly stacking finished pieces. The Kongsberg i-XE10 opens opportunities for creative, new applications with irregular shapes or 3D products, handling a maximum sheet size of 35” x 47”.

Software to power the design to print to cut workflow

Software plays an important role in the entire Esko offering for specialty graphic shops. 

i-cut Suite, an InterTech™ Technology Award recipient, lets companies that drive narrow or large format digital printers and/or digital finishing systems streamline their workflows. It preflights and edits incoming PDF files, ensuring that jobs will RIP and print correctly. It also helps build and edit sheet layouts, ensuring that jobs make the optimum use of substrates through intelligent true shape nesting and tiling. Kongsberg table technology ensures that die-less cutting contours match printed images perfectly, registering the actual dimensions and positioning cuts on the printed result. With i-cut Automate, all of these functions are automated in a single workflow, with less operator intervention.

In a more commoditized market, sign and display shops are realizing that unique 3D display projects offer higher margins. More and more companies are investing in ArtiosCAD for structural design. ArtiosCAD 12 has an extensive library of resizable display designs to help designers so they do not have to start from scratch designing new displays. 

Powerful Esko partners on the SGIA show floor

At the Esko booth, representatives of Danaher sister-company X-Rite Pantone will demonstrate how brand colors can be consistent for the sign and display market. Creating custom ICC profiles based on each substrate and printing process, the i1Publish Pro 2™ brings color management to large format products like Point of Purchase [POP] displays and wall graphics. To maintain color consistency during print production, the X-Rite eXact™ spectrophotometer measures output results ensuring colors meet customers expectations. With built in color workflows to measure print output, waste is kept to a minimum and productivity is increased. 

At HP (booth 1628), Esko will be offering workflow software demonstrations of Esko’s front-end systems for HP Scitex high-volume industrial printers. The Esko software, part of the HP SmartStream for Scitex workflow, is based on tools from Esko’s i-cut Suite that efficiently process digital print files to help optimize run time of HP digital printing systems.

Xpedx (booth 2816) will be showing a Kongsberg i-XP 24 digital finishing system. The i-XP helps turn signage and POP/POS display work into profitable, value added jobs, helping sign and display shops offer their customers on-demand production with just-in-time delivery. With a maximum working area of 87”x126” and a maximum speed of 66” inches per second, the XP series can convert a wide range of board, sheet and roll materials.

“This is an exciting time for Esko and our specialty printing customers. With the new Kongsberg C64, we set a new standard for digital finishing and extend our ‘best in class’ product line to a very wide 3.2 meter wide table,” comments Bennett. “We bring a solution that can keep up with the faster, wider printers of today and tomorrow, while maintaining the standards in quality, versatility, precision and productivity that Kongsberg tables are noted for. We look forward to showing off the Kongsberg C64 and the new i-cut Production Console at SGIA.”