Sustainability has been an important concern for printers and converters for years and will have a huge impact on printing in the near future. The packaging requirements are constantly changing due to stricter marketing regulations for food safety and environmentally friendly production. Printing on bio based and eco-friendly materials and less waste during production are also challenges that printers and converters have to deal with.
Printing eco-friendly packaging
APF Alkor, a Russian producer of seed bags since 1996, is also confronted with these sustainability issues. The customers of Alkor are engaged in the sale of seeds for vegetables, flowers, ornamental crops and medicinal plants and these green companies therefore demand perfect quality combined with sustainable production. This is one the reasons why Alkor choose to purchase the Thallo web offset press.
Besides printing seed bags, Alkor offers a full spectrum of services in the field of advertising: catalogues, posters, booklets, brochures, calendars and much more. The company is constantly aiming to be innovative by integrating cutting-edge technology in their production process. Therefore, Alkor has invested in a Thallo press to offer their clients the highest possible printing quality which can be achieved. Perfectly printed packaging increases the sale of a product. This makes the Thallo web offset press is the perfect solution for high quality packaging. Products such as seed bags, packages for seedlings, self-adhesive labels and other promotional products can be printed effortless on this high-tech press.
Reasons to choose for Thallo offset
When choosing a new printing press, environmentally friendly production was a very important criterion for Alkor. The Thallo can be characterized as a "green machine" because of, for example, the re-use of the web during setup: the web can automatically be run backwards (rewound), making optimal use of an expensive substrate. But the use of solvent free and water based inks and coatings also contribute to environmentally friendly production with the Thallo web offset press.
It were not only the green benefits of the Thallo that made the difference in the decision-making process; there were also other reasons why Alkor chose the Thallo. The Thallo is a state-of-the-art web offset printing press that guarantees excellent printing quality. The press has a modular design and can be equipped with flexo and / or gravure units as required, enabling the printer and converter to meet the wishes of their customer.
The machine is equipped as standard with an advanced web tension control system, so that the web tension of stretchable substrates throughout the entire machine is completely under control. That makes the Thallo highly suitable for printing on film substrates such as PET, OPP, BOPP, PE, LDPE, MET / PET, metal foils and multi-layer laminates and therefore to produce in-mould labels, wrap around labels, shrink sleeves and flexible packaging for food and non-food.
Sleeve technology: flexibility in web offset printing
The Thallo is the further developed and improved version of the successful VSOP® sleeve web offset press. The first VSOP® was sold in 2004. A total of 92 VSOP® printing presses have been installed with the majority at printers of labels and flexible packaging. Based on years of experience with the VSOP® and in close collaboration with users of the printing press, numerous improvements were made to the VSOP®. The result was a second-generation web offset printing press: the Thallo. Since the market introduction of the Thallo, 8 machines have now been built. This has reached the milestone of 100 web offset machines with variable sleeve technology.
