Eagle Systems' Cold Foil System Chosen by KBA Japan
- Published: April 30, 2013
CHICHIBU, JAPAN | Graphic Art Systems Inc., a US-based developer and manufacturer of foil enhancement equipment, reports that KBA Japan has retrofitted its first press installation with an Eco-Eagle Cold Foil system solution. Just last month KBA installed a Rapida 106 press at the Taisei Co. Ltd., a distinguished Tokyo-based packaging printer. The eight-color press offers a dedicated accessory packages for plastic substrates, board handling, and alternating UV/conventional operation. By supplementing with an Eagle System, Taisei can now offer their clients an in-house, value-added finishing technique for cold foil applications.
“The management team at Taisei saw the value of adding a cold foil machine to their press,” notes Kenneth Hansen, CEO, KBA Japan. “We chose the Eco-Eagle Cold Foil system because of its reputation as being the most technologically advanced machine on the market today. We initially had delivery and installation concerns but these were quickly addressed by Michael King [president/CEO of Eagle Systems], and our expectations were eventually exceeded. The system was delivered on time, installation took only two days to the delight of the customer, and machine training was done immediately after install and took just two hours. By the end of the third day, we were already testing out first job.”
Taisei, known for their printing on clear plastics (used for molding various packaging), quickly became familiar with the Eagle System and the cold foil process and was comfortable integrating the supplied substrates. They almost immediately ran a live job—a job that traditionally would have been outsourced. Within hours of going online, the Eagle System was already making money for Taisei.
“The Eagle System’s interface is another advantage,” notes Hansen. “There is one connection between the Eagle and the KBA ink fountain guard circuit and that’s for safety purpose. There is no other interface to the Eagle Cold Foil as it is self-contained, has no computer panel, and requires no operator intervention. The Eagle System also can run narrow webs to 2 inches in any configuration to the width of the press, operates at press speed, and is one of the easiest machines to use, as it needs virtually no machine training. It’s efficient, user-friendly, and an ideal complement to our KBA presses.”
More About Taisei
Founded in 1962, The Taisei management team is headed by President Yoshiro Ohno. Taisei prints backlit display graphics for the vending machine industry (e.g., cigarette, soft drinks, candy…). The substrates are transparent films (polyethylene) in thicknesses between 0.2 and 0.4 mm. This work had in the past been handled by presses from another unnamed German manufacturer but is now becoming a new revenue stream. Within the first weeks of operation, the company has received numerous orders for foil jobs and have been able to strongly reduce outsourcing of in line foil jobs. Taisei management reports they’re already ahead of the return of investment calculations.
The Eco-Eagle Cold Foil System
The Eco-Eagle Cold Foil system is a value-added finishing technique for cold foil applications. The add-on system can retrofit to new or existing 28-in. up to 80-in. sheet-fed offset presses from most major press manufacturers. It offers users the flexibility to apply a single 40-in. width of foil or multiple widths of foil, in any combination, as narrow as 2 in. This ability greatly reduces foil cost and consumption. In addition, the cold foil system operates on about the same amount of electricity as a 1,500 watt hair dryer, reducing energy demands in production environments.
The Eco-Eagle system provides the benefits of high quality performance and reliability, as well as efficient machineability and cost effectiveness. Spot or overall foil coverage is printed inline and then overprinted at standard press speeds adding amazing and dazzling effects for packaging and commercial print. The process uses standard printing plates and features setup times of less than 10 minutes. Eco-Eagle is completely automated thereby eliminating the human interface and operator/machine intervention.
