Qualvis Packaging orders seven-colour ROLAND 700 HiPrint Combi Press

Leicester-based Qualvis Packaging is the latest UK packaging house to take advantage of manroland's Secrets of Printing campaign, with an order for a seven-colour with coater ROLAND 700 HiPrint press and an option placed on a retrofit in early 2012 of manroland's pioneering InlineFoiler Prindor inline cold foiling system. The 700 press will be installed in the company's newly-expanded production facility in Thurmaston in September and replaces a six-colour Heidelberg, providing the food and confectionery specialist with a hugely versatile press that will meet its needs for greater production flexibility and capacity.

Says Jason Short, managing director, Qualvis Packaging Ltd: "We've ordered the ROLAND 707 and placed an option on the InlineFoiler Prindor cold foiling system for a very simple reason - manroland offered the best press on the market with the very latest technology, and all at a competitive price. For us, this whole combination made the decision a ‘no-brainer'. It was clear through the whole sales and demonstration cycle that manroland's technology is right at the forefront of the industry and well ahead of its competitors."

Ideally suited to the demands of the packaging sector, the ROLAND 700 HiPrint prints up to 16,000 sheets per hour for long-run high productivity. It offers a non-stop feeder for fast, consistent delivery and includes manroland's APL™ fully-automated plate changing system and totally integrated on-press automation for seamless print production. Qualvis's new ROLAND 700 will be a combination press, specified to accommodate both UV and conventional inks and coatings. To achieve this, the press will be fitted with a range of manroland's QuickChange options: QuickChange Wash to increase the speed of ink roller washing; dual wash-up tanks for the use of different washes for UV and conventional inks; and QuickChange Coating, which includes an additional chamber doctor blade system and pipework to avoid cross contamination of coating types and ensure faster change-over.

The press has also been specified to run Qualvis's broad range of packaging substrates, including G-flute board - which has previously been difficult to run efficiency, with colour quality control managed by manroland's InlineColorPilot colour management system. The new ROLAND will also come with a Select Air Station which includes frequency-controlled inverter pumps. These pumps use less power and require less maintenance than conventional pumps, reducing costs and offering strong environmental savings for Qualvis.

Says Tony Caulfield, manroland's sheetfed area sales manager for the Midlands: "Qualvis is a company that is recognised for its rigorous attention to detail and the consistent delivery of the highest quality product. The new ROLAND 700 will provide it with the capacity to expand its business and the flexibility to run both UV and conventional inks as well as print efficiency on an extensive range of carton substrates. The option of a potential retrofit of the inline cold foiler will also provide the company with a peerless foiling technology so it can offer customers truly creative solutions that dramatically enhance their packaging."

Continues Mr Short: "With the new seven-colour ROLAND we effectively have three machines rolled into one. For example, we can run seven colours and a single varnish; or six with a dual coating or use it in combination with the inline foiling system. This flexibility combined with the high level of automation and on-press QuickChange options, means we have a real USP in the market and a key point of differentiation when going up against our competitors."

Says Adam Robotham, Commercial Sales Manager, manroland GB: "2011 is turning into a very positive year for manroland. There are two major milestones for us in this one order – the installation of our first seven-colour ROLAND 700 into the UK packaging sector in 2011 and an option placed for our first InlineFoiler Prindor in the UK. This is excellent news for manroland and provides Qualvis with a press and potentially a foiling system that will greatly enhance its offering in a highly competitive market. Our new business chain is continuing to grow and we are confident we will be making more announcements in the coming weeks."