The Castellon, Spain facility that developed key technology for EFI’s Nozomi family of high-speed corrugated printers and which has also been deployed in the Reggiani textile printers, has been transformed into a ‘world-class manufacturing operation for production-level single-pass inkjet printing for the packaging, display graphics and other adjacent markets’, according to EFI.
The site was acquired by EFI in 2012 and has a heritage of single-pass printing capability based on digital printing of ceramic tiles in the CretaPrint business. Since then, EFI has invested heavily in applying that expertise to other markets, notably packaging and display graphics, but also in more recent additions to the Reggiani range of high speed textile printers.
Micol Gamba, senior manager, product marketing at EFI Reggiani told Digital Textile Printer that technology developed at this facility is implemented in the Bolt and Bolt XS single-pass models, specifically in the design of removable print bars that make maintenance easier, plus an ‘ultra compact’ printing chamber for ‘the highest productivity in the smallest footprint’; these are complemented by proprietary electronics and software to ‘ensure real-time printing, also when handling very short runs and frequently variable jobs’. The high speed print architecture is driven by dedicated Fiery DFEs, as with other EFI devices.
Evandro Matteucci, vice president and general manager for packaging and building materials at EFI, said, ‘EFI has placed a particular focus on the packaging market as it has worked to transform the Castellon manufacturing facility as well as the research and development arm located there.
’This includes optimising operations to support ongoing innovation and to leverage our expertise. Our industry-leading single-pass technology is especially applicable to this growth market as it increasingly transitions to digital. As one example of the market opportunity, more than 250 billion square metres of corrugated board are printed each year worldwide, and we believe a substantial percentage of that can be transitioned to single-pass digital printing.’
Mr Matteucci also stated that the successes achieved, especially with the Nozomi printers, are proof that single-pass technology is well-positioned to enable EFI to expand into additional market segments. The technology has already been adapted by EFI for the display graphics market, with the 1.4m Nozomi 14000 SD, launched in May 2023. Further applications envisaged include markets such as metal decoration and folding carton production.
