Features Digital Printing Packaging Printing
Koenig & Bauer Durst begin beta testing on new VariJet 106

Koenig & Bauer Durst GmbH has announced plans to bring the VariJet 106 to market with the first installation of the new single-pass digital printing press at a customer site early next year, prior to a formal unveiling at drupa 2021, taking place April 20-28, 2021 in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Designed for the folding carton industry, the B1 6,000sph VariJet 106 integrates inkjet technology into the platform of the high-performance Rapida 106 offset press. The VariJet 106 combines the strengths of digital inkjet with those of classic offset printing and inline finishing, resulting in a cost-efficient hybrid printing system for digital packaging printing. The VariJet 106 can produce personalized and individualized print products or alternate between short and medium runs.

The announcements from the joint venture company of Durst and Koenig & Bauer, which was launched in 2019, have also included updates on its single-pass corrugated presses – the Delta SPC 130 and the CorruJet 170 – which have a specific focus on delivering for the stringent requirements of the packaging sector.

A digital priming unit for uncoated media will broaden the applications customers can use the Delta SPC 130 to address, as well as extend the range of media that can be used for printing. Special colours introduced for the fifth and sixth colour stations will enable converters to meet brand colour requirements.

The Delta SPC 130 FlexLine Automatic combines a mechanical design with easily accessible sub-assemblies and selected components to provide durable quality, high performance and reliability. It can manage small formats from 500 x 600mm to very large formats up to 1,300 x 2,100mm (optionally 1,300 x 2,800mm) and can print a maximum thickness of 12mm with water-based, food-safe inks. The Flexline includes a feeder, six-colour single-pass printing, cooling section and stacker.

Successful beta testing has taken place for the CorruJet 170 at the Kolb Group in Bavaria, Germany. Based on the RotaJet inkjet web press for packaging and décor printing, the CorruJet 170 post-prints sheets of corrugated up to 1.7m wide at up to 137 m/min on water-based, food-safe inks.

All three presses from the joint venture meet the stringent requirements for food safe primary packaging utilizing proprietary water-based ink technology, and have all been designed with core technologies to provide automated, productive, food safe printing systems. According to Koenig & Bauer Durst, they deliver shorter response times, more variants, shorter run lengths, individualization and enable more small value orders. They also answer the demand for brand security, sustainability and the ability to meet brand owners’ requirements for multichannel communication.

“We’re really excited by the opportunities and progress with our much-anticipated VariJet 106. We have a number of existing customers that would like to be beta sites, and we plan to show them the press after the summer,” said Robert Stabler, managing director, Koenig & Bauer Durst. “The customer we choose will have a vision for mass customization and be a good partner for a beta site. Feedback from our customers is that shorter run lengths, mass customization and the need to be more agile are the compelling reasons for moving to digital production.”