The Meliora Group has installed a Diana Easy folder gluer from Heidelberg, enhancing the group’s existing packaging production capabilities.

The Meliora Group is the parent to various print companies located in the UK Southeast, including CSP, Scarbutts Printers and Delga Press/Labels. Delga Labels was a more recent addition to the group’s packaging activities, which can actually go back more than six decades and are largely fulfilled by Delga Press.

Delga Press operates a variety of technologies to print and convert sheets into folding cartons and printed boxes. This includes Heidelberg Speedmaster and Komori Lithrone litho offset presses, an HP Indigo 12000HD digital press, a Highcon Euclid digital cutting and creasing system, and a Scodix digital print enhancement press. The Heidelberg Diana Easy is already operational alongside these systems as part of the Delga Press production floor in Rochester, Kent. Specifically, Delga Press now has four dedicated glue lines for folding boxboard cartons, meaning certain lines can be left setup in popular formats. With this, the company expects to increase makeready speeds coupled with the ability to reduce the number of makereadies. The new machine, which features an updated glue system, ‘will help bring benefits in speed of running and better control’, it is claimed. In addition, as size restrictions for packaging will reduce, Delga Press will also be able to increase its offering. This has already started to be realised, with the recent launch of Boxable as an e-commerce platform aimed at sole traders, SMEs and artisan businesses.

The Diana Easy folder gluer runs at speeds of up to 300m/min and is available in the format range of 850mm and 1150mm, so can handle printed items with a maximum product length of 600mm. Cartons of 200-600g/sqm and above, and E-flute corrugated material, can be processed.

Sam Grist, commercial director at Delga Press, commented, ‘We chose the Diana in particular as it has the ability to produce smaller cartons than our existing equipment. The level of support and training we know we can expect from Heidelberg also factored into the decision. Diana has always had a very good reputation in the industry, so after looking at all the options available to us, we decided that this was the best suited to our business needs.’

Delga Press was a winner at the Digital Labels & Packaging Awards 2023 whilst the wider group, via Delga Labels, is an active member of the Digital Labels & Packaging Industry Group