Afinia Label, a manufacturer and distributor of industrial color label printing and finishing equipment, and Sihl, a global leader in digital print media, have partnered to introduce new digital flexible package printing technology for the short-run narrow web market.

As shown at Labelexpo Europe 2019 in Brussels, the Afinia L901 industrial colour label printer can produce labels and flexible packaging. For this, a 230mm-wide roll of Sihl Artysio packaging film prints at 9m/min and 1600dpi, and is laminated inline. The printed roll is then ready to use in vertical or horizontal form/fill/seal (VFFS or HFFS) systems, to create packaging formats like flow packs, sachets, bags, stand-up pouches and lidding films.

Joe Collins, technical sales at Afinia Label, commented, ‘As companies have focused on things like reducing waste, smaller production runs, and personalisation; the need for an on-demand flexible packaging solution has grown significantly in the past few years.

‘Our solution is low-investment and empowers the user to have full control of their own production, putting an end to minimum order restrictions and long lead times. Users can take a roll of blank Artysio packaging film and go from print to pack in minutes, opening the door to endless opportunities.’

The Afinia L901 has been optimised to run harmoniously with Sihl’s Artysio line of packaging films, which have been created with the goal of simplifying the question of film choice. All Artysio films offer barrier and sealing properties, along with ‘outstanding’ printability.

Read more about this and other developments in the narrow web digital printing industry in the November/December edition of Digital Labels & Packaging