Manufacturing continues to drive growth in label demand, making it one of the fastest growing print applications. And as the demand for short-run labels escalates, Konica Minolta recently ran a webinar to look at its partner Grafisk Maskinfabrik’s (GM) purpose-built factory in Denmark and further demonstrate the range of finishing options it has.
Konica Minolta Australia industrial print solutions consultant Adam Todd said, “COVID and the online world we live in has changed the way we do business. There is the amazing tech to support the growth, but understanding the markets to target is just as important.
“Take note in your day to day lives of where labels are and what they are on. You’ll see them everywhere. And with simple software, you can also add variable data and trackable barcodes to labels, such as QR codes. This can assist in combating counterfeiting of your products.
“In Australia, our label press customers are printing everything from chemical labels to boutique labels to safety tags – label printing is one of the fastest growing print applications in Australia.”
According to Todd, for printers, a complete label and finishing solution presents a great opportunity to diversify away from that commodity-based sheet printing. For manufacturers it’s an opportunity to bring label printing back in-house and have greater control over costs and turnaround times.
“Konica Minolta has quickly become a significant player in the digital label printing market with over 1000 installations globally of the AccurioLabel 230 label press, with 20 machines installed in Australia,” he said.
“The AccurioLabel 230 is our third iteration of this popular platform. The four-colour toner press is capable of printing on a wide range of self-adhesive stocks at 23 lineal metres per minute. Its toner has a very high lightfastness and is also FDA approved for indirect contact – so it is well suited to the food and beverage markets.
“Whether you are complementing your existing analogue flexo label presses or adding digital label printing for a new revenue stream, the AccurioLabel 230 label press is good for 500 labels or 100,000 labels.”
During the webinar, Konica Minolta spoke about its partnership with GM, which also gave attendees a sneak peek behind its purpose-built factory in Denmark.
In 2021, Konica Minolta and GM teamed up to provide a total end-to-end solution for users in the Australian market.
With over 40 years of industry experience in converting equipment, GM identified its range of label finishing equipment in its Denmark facility.
GM labels sector director Lykke Trusbak spoke about the ‘endowment effect’ of labels, which determines that more than half of the brain is devoted to processing our sensory experiences and much of that focuses on our sense of touch.
She said tactile perception has a major impact on what you people think about a product.
“Labels are everywhere. Imagine a world without them. So, with beautiful labels, especially when we add some extra value to the label, the end user is more likely to reach out to the product because of its eye-catching label. They may also be willing to pay more for the product,” she said.
“So, we are in the finishing market as we know that the eye-catching label can sell a product. It can be done by using some metallics or matte or gloss varnish. You can make premium labels, and it doesn’t have to be a premium product.”
