Lucerne, Switzerland - Lucerne was once again the global center for "high performance digital printing" as worldwide experts recently convened for the eleventh Hunkeler Innovationdays. This year’s event was the largest and most diverse, with almost 6,000 visitors traveling from over 50 nations, yet still true to its unique and intimate character. Standard was pleased to welcome an impressive number of North American customers to Switzerland including Quad/Graphics, RR Donnelley, Shutterfly, Amazon, Bank of America, and many more.

Visitors saw many exciting premieres demonstrating greater automation and substrate flexibility, including Hunkeler’s new generation of unwinding and rewinding modules featuring faster roll changes, 30” web widths, and production speeds up to 1000 feet/minute. The event also showcased book production solutions in a variety of workflows, efficient production of digitally printed brochures with dynamic content and variable page count, advanced laser finishing for ultimate flexibility in dynamic perforating and punching, and Hunkeler’s new control platform enabling end-to-end control of print jobs. Various roll and cut-sheet applications provided by Canon, HP, Kodak, Ricoh, Screen, Xerox, and others were demonstrated among the forty production lines throughout the hall.

Hunkeler Solutions Showcase

Premiering in the Hunkeler booth was the DP8 Dynamic Perforating module from the new POPP8 generation, which offers improved productivity with even greater functionality and speed for dynamic perforation and punching of payment forms, tear-off coupons, mailings and security applications. A touchscreen editing tool allows fast and easy setups. The DP8 can be equipped with up to three cross perforation cylinders and up to eight longitudinal perforations, as well as file hole punching tools. The system offers customizable, independent processing of two web lanes in 2-up production for highly variable jobs, and supports job storage and automatic retrieval of the proper perforation and punching patterns at speeds up to 800 fpm. A 22" version of this model will also be available.

Hunkeler also demonstrated its newly enhanced Plowfold Signature Book Block production line with variable format sizes featuring fully automatic longitudinal format changeover, high flexibility, and excellent book block quality. Rolls were processed into 4, 6, or 8-page signatures on the PF7 double plow folder and transferred to the new CS6-HS cutter and SD7 double star wheel delivery unit for non-stop operation up to 650 fpm. The system delivers up to 4,500 96-page books/hour in A5 format with multiple book blocks on top of each other, and is ready for integration into a JDF/JMF workflow. The glued book blocks assure simple, secure handling for post-processing. Additional glue heads in the plowfolder unit turn this solution into a roll to finished book solution. These “budget bound” books are trimmed and ready to use, ideal for coupon books, benefits booklets, legislative draft documents or other products with short shelf life. An on-board tracking system also monitors for document integrity.

The new and improved Hunkeler PC7 Coater module adds post-print gloss and print protection to inkjet-printed products and now offers a fully automated cleaning process and simple roller removal without tools. Operating in a Roll-to-Stack configuration in the Hunkeler booth, the PC7 was applying a varnish to the paper web fed from the UW7 unwinder. The web was then cross-cut in the CS7 module and sheets were delivered to the LS7 large-format stacker, which can handle formats up to 43" x 30" and stack height up to 31.5". The PC7 features energy-efficient NIR (near infrared) drying technology, which allows up to 4 grams/m2 of varnish to be applied.

Also unveiled and running as part of a Roll-to-Stack configuration, the new Hunkeler HL6 Laser module was demonstrating fully dynamic, zero make-ready, customized punch and perforation patterns, ideal for high-security applications such as forge-proof checks, IDs, lottery tickets, coupons, mailings and more. The laser system supports virtually unlimited complex patterns, including curved lines and even engraving effects. A new version of the laser editor provides much simpler and more efficient preparation and management of the laser pattern in production environments. The system can produce up to 500 fpm in 1-up or 2-up mode and can also be equipped with an inline WI6 web inspection system for print quality control and document integrity.

Horizon Solutions Showcase
Standard partner Horizon International showcased a range of integrated finishing solutions including the Smart Binding System for perfect bound books. This system produces short-run, variable books of different sizes and thicknesses from a 20”-wide roll with no manual touchpoints. Rolls are fed from the Standard Hunkeler UW6 unwinder through the CS6-I rotary cutter to the in-line Horizon AF-566F folder. Folded signatures are gathered and glued into book blocks, then transported to the Horizon SB-09V dynamic perfect binder with cover feeder. Final three-knife trimming is performed in-line on the Horizon HT-1000V with zero make-ready.

Horizon also demonstrated the new RD-4055 Rotary Die-Cutter which can die-cut, crease, perforate, slit, hole punch, and round corner in one process for digital and offset printed sheets. Die-cutting and kiss-cutting can be performed at the same time to produce stickers and labels. And, a repeat register function allows multiple-up applications from a single-up die to minimize costs. The RD-4055 feeds, die-cuts, and separates waste in one pass at up to 6,000 cycles/hour and accepts sheet sizes up to 15.74" x 21.65" at a thickness up to .5mm (.019”). Also on display, the CRF-362 Creaser/Folder was processing die-cut material coming off the RD-4055, and the BQ-470 Perfect Binder was finishing book blocks produced on the PF7 book-on-demand line in the Hunkeler booth.  

Looking Forward
Video interviews were conducted on the show floor, featuring commentary from Hunkeler executives, partners and customers, including Stefan Hunkeler, CEO of Hunkeler AG. “The industry needs to have an event like this. Our goal is not for this show to get bigger and bigger every year, but more importantly, to bring the right people here,” explained Hunkeler. “We work with many different partners to develop the most productive solutions on the market – the solutions our customers wait to see every two years. This will continue to be our main objective for 2017 too.”

Innovationdays 2017 will be held on February 20-23 in Lucerne, Switzerland.

For more post-show news, commentary, and videos, visit WhatTheyThink.com’s microsite at http://whattheythink.com/events/hunkeler-innovationdays/. More detailed event and product information is also posted on the Innovationdays website at http://innovationdays.hunkeler.ch/