Heidelberg is expanding its portfolio for in-mold label and folding carton production by entering into a worldwide distribution agreement with Japanese company AN Corporation for the Kawahara TXS-1100 and Kawahara BMS-1100 automated post press systems.

This marks the global rollout of a pilot agreement concluded for the North America region last year.

The news follows Heidelberg’s launch of the Generation 4 CutStar, the Speedmaster XL 106-D rotary die cutter, and a new performance package for in-mold label production on the Speedmaster XL 106. 

As a result, Heidelberg now offers all the technology needed for a highly efficient workflow in industrial label production – from job creation, prepress, and plate imaging all the way through to printing, die cutting, and fully automatic blank stripping.

“Heidelberg is systematically investing in the growth markets of packaging and label printing. The distribution agreement for Kawahara blanking systems adds a further key production step in the workflow to the company’s label printing portfolio,” Heidelberg CEO Rainer Hundsdörfer said.

“In this way, we are helping our customers further automate their processes and thus make them as efficient and cost-effective as possible.”

The Kawahara TXS-1100 and Kawahara BMS-1100 blanking stations are both high-performance models. It takes less than 15 minutes to set up a job and tooling costs are minimal.

The cycle of the TXS-1100, whereby a stack of 1,000 IML sheets can be quickly blanked and offloaded, takes between 1.5 and 2 minutes.

“The new Kawahara TXS-1100 is a high-performance system boasting enhanced components and an innovative feeder and unloading system. It is ideal for the in-mold label market and has proved an outstanding stripping and blanking solution for this label material, which is difficult to handle. The Kawahara BMS-1100 offers an excellent price-performance ratio for folding carton print shops that are looking to automate blanking,” Heidelberg label head of business development Markus Höfer said.

The BMS-1100 can process up to 20 blank individual stacks of packages per minute and handles single cut and nested products equally well.

Heidelberg added that it will take to the upcoming Label Day in the Print Media Center at the Wiesloch-Walldorf site on 25 April to showcase a complete workflow for in-mold label production on a Speedmaster XL 106 press, a Speedmaster XL 106-D rotary die cutter, and a Kawahara TXS-1100 blanking station.