Xeikon has added CX30 and CX50 to its portfolio of digital label presses, with the new entry-level options intended to facilitate ‘successful and cost-effective investment’ in digital printing technology.

Building on its sixth-generation platform and based on Cheetah 2.0 technology with new generation interfaces and Cloud connection, these new presses are designed to offer maximum OEE. The Xeikon CX30 and Xeikon CX50 sit between the company’s 3030REX and 3050REX entry-level refurbished presses, and the high-end Xeikon CX300 and Xeikon CX500 models.

The Xeikon portfolio for digital label printing now extends across a number of speeds and formats, from the 20m/min, 330mm-wide CX30, up to the 520mm-wide CX500 printing at 30m/min. REX presses are refurbished presses also offered as an entry-level route into the market.

Cheetah 2.0 technology is based on Xeikon’s scalable press architecture that includes five print stations and a full rotary process with a variable repeat length. Each station utilises Xeikon’s dry toner process and a variety of print widths up to 512mm using an LED imaging head operating at 1200 x 3600dpi and delivering offset/gravure image quality.

The two new presses use Xeikon’s QB dry toner based on Cheetah 2.0 technology, which offers enhanced colour consistency across the web and ensuring the highest volume of output with reduced waste. The toner is available in CMYK, Red, Blue, Green, Orange, extra Magenta (gamut extension colours), Super Black, plus technical colours such as single-pass opaque white, UV and reflective clear as well as colours produced at the customer’s request.

Xeikon has designed and developed the two new presses to suit any label printer operating at a ‘middle capacity’, that is 20,000-40,000sqm, in all end-use segments, but notably the pharmaceutical, food, and wine and spirit label sectors.

Both Xeikon CX30 and CX50 models can be upgraded on-site: for higher speeds, both can be upgraded from 20m/min to 30m/min with the Xeikon CX300 or Xeikon CX500; and for greater width, the 330mm-wide Xeikon CX30 can be upgraded to the 520mm-wide Xeikon CX50 or CX500.

Filip Weymans, vice president of marketing at Xeikon, said, ‘Part of the Xeikon strategy going forward is to make sure every label printer and converter has the maximum choice to purchase a Xeikon press which can help them drive business growth. A successful and cost-effective investment in a digital production solution works best when it is based on expected, realistic print volumes.

‘Xeikon’s Cheetah 2.0 series offers competitive running costs, and printers have the opportunity to successfully expand the capabilities of their press, by upgrading either in speed or width, or both.’

Mr Weymans continued, ‘The Xeikon CX30 and Xeikon CX50 are an appropriate choice for printers and converters looking at digital for the first time with future plans to expand and grow their operation – also for online label printers who are seeing their business explode.’

The new machines are available for physical and online demonstrations at Xeikon’s Global Innovation Center in Antwerp, Belgium, and globally commercially available as of Q1 2021.

Read more about entry-level digital printing, including the second-hand press market, in the January/February 2021 issue of Digital Labels & Packaging