POP – EVER-MORE CREATIVE

Lightweight X-Board easily recycled
Point-of-purchase (POP) display manufacturers around the world are embracing Xanita boards to offer retailers a ‘cradle to cradle’ approach to their in-store advertising campaigns. The days of building a display, using it for a few weeks or months and then dumping it as landfill are clearly numbered, as retailers assess their carbon footprints.
According to Xanita, a typical sheet of 16mm gauge X-Board weighs around 2,4kg/m², while a similar gauge MDF board weighs around 11,2kg/m2, making X-Board nearly five times lighter. In addition, X-Board is VOC-free and can be repulped for use as recycled cartonboard.
Because its light weight results in savings in freight costs, coupled with its comparative ease of disposal and recycling, it’s easy to see why X-Board is fast becoming embraced by forward-looking designers for POP displays for footwear, white goods, electrical goods, tinned products, condiments, books and magazines, and much more.
For longer-term POP displays, X-Board Plus panels can be decorated with an FSC-certified timber veneer, melamine-faced MDF or high-pressure laminate.

UV LED curing meets ‘green’ demands

With variable droplets and resolution up to 1 200 x 1 200 dpi, Mimaki’s UJV-160 offers high image quality. It has two tables for feed and delivery enabling print service providers to print on light rigid materials as well as roll to roll.

Mimaki Engineering, represented locally by Graphix Supply World (GSW), is a world-renowned of wide-format inkjet printers and cutting machines for the sign and graphics markets.
In April this year Mimaki’s UJV-160 LED printer was honoured with the prestigious European Digital Press Award for its innovative and future-orientated large-format digital printer in the up to 1,6m category. The hybrid machine features a rigid media feeding mechanism that accommodates media up to 12kg, allowing for print on substrates such as the acrylic and aluminium compound boards used by the signage and display industry. With this upgrade Mimaki broadens the application possibilities of UJV-160.
The flexible UV inks employed in the UJV-160 have been developed as a result of Mimaki Engineering and 3M’s combined expertise. For over 20 years, 3M and Mimaki Engineering have enjoyed a strategic relationship and both companies anticipate further shifts to UV printing for various applications, including POP displays.
Now the inks developed for UV LED curing add further benefits. They’re expandable and don’t crack when bent, which allows added design creativity, while hard inks, including white, are available for those jobs that do not require bending or folding.
This large-format printer enables significant energy savings as it can be switched on and off without any warm-up time. According to Mimaki, compared to conventional UV lamps, UV LED uses 50% less energy – a technology breakthrough that’s in step with today’s environmental demands.
Since the ink is cured immediately after LED radiation, turnaround time from printing to further processing, such as lamination, is considerably shortened, dramatically improving efficiency and productivity.

Innovative print-and-cut combo
The CF2 flatbed cutting plotter is an ideal complementary cutting device to the UJV-160, enabling printers to expand their businesses with cutting-edge technology from Mimaki.

In the current economic downturn, the introduction of an affordable versatile UV print-and-cut system allows any printer to enter the dynamic market of POP displays, signage, packaging and more.
Mimaki offers an effective and competitively-priced print-and-cut solution with its CF2 series flatbed cutting plotter for creating POP displays. This is an ideal complementary cutting device for the UJV-160. Once the rigid substrate has been printed, it can be transferred to the CF2 for half-cutting, die-cutting or creasing.
Thanks to Mimaki’s extensive line of cutter blades, the CF2 offers superior sharpness and extremely accurate cutting quality that enables multi-type, small-lot production. It’s capable of cutting various kinds of media with high accuracy and without dies. By cutting printed media, high value-added products can be produced on demand.

Multifunctional cutter/router offers high productivity
With last year’s introduction of the G3, Zünd has expanded on its successful modular concept.

Represented locally by Beswick Machinery, Swiss company Zünd’s impressive line of cutters/routers is the result of more than 20 years’ experience in flatbed cutting technology.
With last year’s introduction of the G3, Zünd expanded on its hugely successful modular concept.
In developing the G3, the primary focus was system productivity. ‘Productivity goes far beyond speed. If you look at performance in a Formula One race car, it is not just acceleration that matters. What gives one car the edge over another is the way all components, including the driver, work together as a whole. With the new G3, we offer our customers a fully multifunctional machine,’ is the apt analogy provided by the company’s marketing executive, Maurus Zeller.
‘No matter whether the requirement is for simple trimming, kiss-cutting to a liner, routing, creasing, or complex contour-cutting, the new G3 cutter is always up to the task and guarantees optimal productivity,’ he tells PACKAGING & PRINT MEDIA.
All nine models of the G3 can accommodate all available Zünd tools and material-handling features. Upgrading at any time – eg to automated material advancing – and adapting to changes in production requirements is easy and cost-effective. For printers, this translates into secure short- and long-term ROI.
Developed specifically for 24/7 operation, construction of the G3 is solid yet visually striking. Besides offering maximum productivity, it offers user-friendly operation and reduced energy consumption.
The new Zünd G3 is easily accessible from all four sides. Its sleek, integrated workstation also provides secure storage space for cutting modules and tools. With the new V-Cut tool, rigid stock up to 16mm thick can be made foldable with angle-cuts from 15° to 45°. The high-resolution Zünd ICC camera attaches directly to the carriage system and works interchangeably with all cutting/routing modules and tools.

Field report
Quarmby Colour Studio (Leeds, UK) is a typical producer of POP displays for retail applications. The company daily processes vinyl, cartonboard, paper, acrylic, X-Board, and other materials common to an industry where possibilities are almost endless, providing the perfect environment for a Zünd G3 high-performance cutter.
Recently Quarmby received a rush order for 102 displays made from double-sided prints on 16mm X-Board, 300 PVC banners and 300 posters. Making good use of its new G3 XL-3200 and its wide selection of tool options, Quarmby’s production department was able to complete the entire job in 24 hours.
This super fast turnaround time was the primary reason that Quarmby was able to gain another new customer, reflecting a general trend the company has seen since the installation of its G3 cutting system. Both production volume and throughput have increased dramatically, without creating the need for additional staff or incurring overtime expenses. With the added cutting capabilities of the Zünd system, Quarmby has been able to expand the choice of materials it can offer its customers – boosting business even more.
‘Zünd has definitely made it possible for us to expand beyond our primary market into sign-making, prototyping and sample box-making for the packaging industry,’ comments proprietor Damian Quarmby. ‘By further increasing short-run packaging production and taking advantage of new market opportunities, such as displays made from X-Board, we fully expect to continue this growth trend.’

Finishing the job
The latest Lamina Glueline – available in 2m, 3m and 4m widths – offers the same functionality as the semi-automatic version, except that material infeed is automatic.

The finishing of displays and products for POP has always been a production bottleneck as products typically involve numerous shape variations and unique designs.
The need for a machine with a high level of flexibility, short set-up time and ease of operation is a ‘must’ to manage finishing operations efficiently.
The Lamina gluer and working station (also supplied by Beswick Machinery), specifically designed to cater for special applications and able to manage most operations currently being carried out manually, were developed in conjunction with major POP producers. As a result, the gluer and working station easily handle a wide range of products including simple boxes, show cards, back support mounting (struts), multipiece products, tape and Velcro mounting and much more.
When running smaller sizes, one of the machine’s functions allows two operators to use the same machine, either doubling production output or running two different products simultaneously.
The machine can be equipped with hot melt and cold glue guns as well as a tape applicator to achieve high-quality gluing, simplified transportation and easy in-store set up. The gluer can also be equipped with a milling device for removing coatings and varnishes often found on glue areas. Lamina gluers are available in the widths from 1 400mm to 2 200mm or according to a customer’s specific request.
By using hot melt or a combination of hot and cold glue, the Glueline automatically handles single or two-piece boxes and uses a folding procedure that ensures the delivery of perfectly square folded and glued two-piece products in a highly productive manner.

Solving pattern gluing problems
Gluejet gluing tables are available in various versions – from a stand-alone glue plotter with standard tabletop to a fully-automatic gluing unit with integrated conveyor, automatic pick & place feeder and product position control.

Gluejet gluing tables from Bickers (another of Beswick Machinery’s principals) provide a solution to pattern gluing problems. With their versatile scope of application and easy operation these CNC glue application tables result in extreme reductions in cost/unit as well as strong improvements in productivity and product quality.
Effective use of staff and improved working conditions contribute to overall efficiency and cost reductions. Hot melt adhesives as well as cold glues can be applied in one operation on narrow or wide surfaces. Up to four independently-controllable work ‘positions’ can be utilised on smaller products, or between one and three different products can be glued in a single pass on larger products. There are practically no limits to the geometry of glue application as the Gluejet can apply multiple patterns on multiple products with perfect precision and at high speed.
Speed of operation is selectable from 0,01 to 1,2m/s. All functions are controlled and administered through the machine touchscreen with straightforward prompting making operation simple even for unskilled labour. Programming takes place by means of ‘teach in’ system with the help of a laser which points out the pattern to be glued during the programming process. The Gluejet can be programmed to glue a solid line, interrupted (stitch) line, point, rectangle, wave, circle and circular arc – the possibilities are endless.