Décor paper printing company Chiyoda recently installed an InterioJet 3300 water-based printing press from Agfa at its European headquarters in Genk, Belgium. Its new press will enable Chiyoda to supply printed décor paper with exclusive designs to flooring, furniture and car laminate panel makers.
The installation of the new press was completed in June. Complementing Chiyoda’s gravure presses, the InterioJet lets them run a reliable 24/7 digital printing production with consistent color quality. The InterioJet surpasses the limitations of gravure printing when it comes to printing interior decoration applications, as it is not limited by cylinder length – thus enabling the printing of more complex designs and non-repetitive patterns. Chiyoda will deploy the digital press for shorter print runs of up to two tonnes of décor paper, mainly for prints on demand and just-in-time deliveries. The InterioJet uses Agfa’s water-based inks and primer, which fit perfectly with the traditional melamine impregnation and lamination post-processes of the panel manufacturing industry.
“Agfa’s unique knowledge of chemistry, inks and software warrants the highest print quality and color consistency, ensuring that our customers can use the InterioJet prints in exactly the same way as gravure prints without any modification to their laminate production process,” says Peter Coenegrachts, COO of Chiyoda. “In addition, they will benefit from our ability to cost-efficiently produce shorter runs in the sense that they will now need to hold less stock, and thus less working capital.”
“I am pleased to count this trendsetting company as one of our customers,” says Tom Cloots, Director Industrial Inkjet at Agfa. “We have known Chiyoda for a long time. We were confident that the InterioJet 3300 would prove the ideal press for their needs, and we are pleased to see how it is boosting their business.”
The InterioJet is powered by Agfa’s Asanti workflow software complete with a décor printing plug-in for décor image optimization. Asanti works in conjunction with the industry standard AVA CAD CAM software to match the gravure prints as closely as possible.
