Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) will soon install its Primefire 106 solution for a Japanese printer that is aiming to expand its web-to-pack business on top of traditional packaging.

Kyoshin Paper and Package picked Heidelberg Primefire 106 as its next digital press by signing a contract that will make the solution the first in the Japanese market.

Heidelberg will install the digital printing system in Kyoshin Paper and Package’s new Kanto plant later this year.

Kyoshin Paper and Package was founded in Kobe, Japan in 1948. Since then, it has grown to become a successful packaging service provider and currently employs 290 staff.

In 2013, the company expanded its packaging business by launching a web-to-pack service, Hacoplay, focusing on the demand of small size and small quantity with digital presses.

Currently, the maximum size it can print on its digital press is B2 as maximum, but in order to further expand its web-to-pack business, it started to look for B1 digital press solutions that could meet demanding customer needs.

The company first came across Heidelberg’s Primefire 106 at drupa 2016, where Heidelberg did a print test with the former’s challenging images.

Hacoplay division executive managing director Kazuhiro Kajikawa found that the result of the print test “was excellent”.

“The print quality, such as green and orange, were outstanding and we felt that the quality of print by Primefire 106 was the most beautiful we have ever seen,” he said.

“The consistency of quality between first and 500th sheets were also amazingly stable – that surprised even our offset press operator who was with me for the test.

Other features of Primefire 106 that appealed to Kajikawa include the ability for it to cover 95 per cent of Pantone colour.

“As a packaging printer, we have to use a lot of special colours for package printing. By enlarging the size from A3 to B2, we were able to expand our business and we are expecting more by going for B1 size with Primefire 106,” Kajikawa mentioned.

Heidelberg digital print business head Montserrat Peidró-Insa said the Primefire 106 is the first available industrial digital printing press for packaging in B1 format and that its use in Japan is a significant move for the company.

“Japan is, for us, a very important market as it is among the top countries for folding carton production and it has probably the highest standards of image quality in the world,” he said.

“We are proud to have such a renowned company like Kyoshin Paper and Package selecting Primefire 106 to accelerate their company growth. With this new installation, Primefire is expanding its global presence even further and consolidating itself as a business growth enabler in packaging.”