EFI has transformed its Castellon, Spain facility into a world-class manufacturing operation for production-level single-pass inkjet printing for the packaging, display graphics and other adjacent markets.

The facility, which was acquired by EFI in 2012, has a heritage of single-pass printing capability based on digital printing of ceramic tiles. Since that time, EFI has invested heavily in applying that expertise to other markets, most specifically packaging and display graphics. Notably, the single-pass technology originally developed in Castellon was a key element in the development of the company’s highly Nozomi family of single-pass printers for those markets. This single-pass technology has also been successfully applied in other market segments, including textiles and building materials. 

Evandro Matteucci, vice president and general manager for packaging and building materials at EFI, said, ‘EFI has placed a particular focus on the packaging market as it has worked to transform the Castellon manufacturing facility as well as the research and development arm located there.

’This includes optimising operations to support ongoing innovation and to leverage our expertise. Our industry-leading single-pass technology is especially applicable to this growth market as it increasingly transitions to digital. As one example of the market opportunity, more than 250 billion square meters of corrugated board are printed each year worldwide, and we believe a substantial percentage of that can be transitioned to single-pass digital printing, bringing additional flexibility, sustainability and profitability to packaging converters. It enables them to benefit from high-quality, production-level print on demand that minimizes waste and increases flexibility for these producers and their retail and brand owner customers. We are extremely pleased with the progress the facility has made in executing this transformation. It is truly a powerhouse of innovation, and we congratulate the team on their achievements.’

Read issue 6 (September/October) of Digital Labels & Packaging for more on the corrugated and carton packaging markets; register here to receive the magazine