• Arkay Packaging wants to use new digital printing system to further expand its technological leadership
• Portfolio includes premium folding cartons for cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and wines and spirits
• Economical production through integrated offset and digital printing
• Already the second Primefire 106 in the USA

Folding carton printing company Arkay Packaging in Roanoke, Virginia, recently signed a contract for a Drupa model Heidelberg Primefire 106 . This means that Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) has already sold two of these industrial digital printing systems in the USA. By installing the Primefire 106, Arkay Packaging wants to protect and further expand its position as a technological leader in the market for luxury packaging.

Arkay Packaging is a third-generation family-run company with a long tradition of producing top-quality folding cartons. Its regular clients include some of the world’s best known companies and brands. With production plants in Hauppauge, New York, and Roanoke, Virginia, as well as branches in New York City, Arkay has positioned itself as an innovator and market leader in this highly competitive segment. Its portfolio includes premium folding cartons for cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and wines and spirits.

“We are highly motived to use the latest digital technologies for packaging printing to develop new business models, to future-proof ourselves, and to set ourselves apart from the competition,” explains Walt Shiels, COO of Arkay.

Economical production through integrated offset and digital printing
The Primefire 106 is based on the platform of the Speedmaster XL 106 and can thus be seamlessly integrated into Arkay Packaging’s offset environment. Its press room is already home to four Speedmaster XL 106 presses. An important purchase criterion for Walt Shiels was the comprehensive mapping of the Pantone color space, which is achieved to outstanding effect with the seven colors of the Primefire 106. In addition, the digital printing system offers top quality with 1,200 x 1,200 dpi and is designed for a volume of up to 1.5 million sheets per month. Arkay Packaging will be able to choose between digital and offset printing in the future depending on the run length, as the results can be optimally coordinated with each other.

Arkay is a long-standing customer of Heidelberg, and also recently installed a new Diana X 115 folder gluer. It plans to put the Primefire 106 into operation at the beginning of 2020. “Heidelberg now has several Primefire 106 installations on three continents where the industrial digital printing system is being sold today,” explained Montserrat Peidro-Insa, Head of Business Unit Digital at Heidelberg.

“We’re proud that a well-known company like Arkay is investing in the Primefire 106. The trust placed in us is further proof of the technological edge of the Primefire 106 and its diverse applications, whether in the cosmetics, food, pharmaceuticals or luxury goods segments. I’m looking forward to seeing how Arkay works with its customers’ brand managers to develop new and innovative business models in the luxury segment.”

The world’s first standard-production Heidelberg Primefire 106 has been in production at Warneke Paper Box since the end of 2018 (see press release dated 13 November 2018).

Employees from Arkay Packaging and Heidelberger Druckmaschinen are looking forward to the future installation of the Primefire 106 at the site in Roanoke, Virginia. It will be mainly used there for the production of luxury packagings.