High productivity, pin-sharp print resolution and the highest quality ever seen on a single-pass application: rock-solid reasons why ASA, a leading Italian player in the industry has - three years on from the first lab tests - installed a DMD printer at its headquarter in the Republic of San Marino
DMD Line is a digital printing solution developed by SACMI that lets manufacturers decorate, in single-pass mode, metallic substrates for the metal packaging market. Extremely low cost and highly advantageous when it comes to managing small lots, the DMD Line originated as a research project, three years ago, co-managed by SACMI and ASA Group, the leading Italian (and fourth largest European) metal packaging producer.
The DMD machine integrates Dimatix print heads and UV inks. Alongside the digital printer, SACMI has also supplied the curing station, equipped with three special UV lamps to fix the inks on the surface. ASA's investment decision was driven by the outstanding versatility – the DMD can handle sizes as large as 1200x1000 mm and thicknesses from 0.12 to 0.50 mm – and, above all, ultra-high productivity of this single-pass digital solution: convinced of the machine's qualities, they installed the first DMD Line at their plant in the Republic of San Marino, where it has now been fully operational for some months.
In the current configuration the DMD Line can process up to 2,400 sheets/h at a maximum print resolution of up to 1200 dpi. "The customer's involvement", explains the SACMI team, "played a crucial role in defining the digital line project data and achieving a quality that would previously have been unimaginable on a single-pass print device".
ASA Group owner, Francesco Amati, noted that the new SACMI DMD line is a real "game changer" that also offers multiple advantages in terms of simplified logistics. Until now, in fact, ASA had to manage small production lots by applying composite labels on pressed sheeting at the parent company's plants. Smaller minimum lots and the ability to decorate directly in single-pass mode will ensure significant cost savings and maximise flexibility in terms of product changeover times.
Effective teamwork between SACMI R&D and the customer's staff allowed rapid industrialisation of the prototype. Currently used for the digital printing of metal sheeting for chemical product containers, the application will later be extended to the food sector to decorate metal packaging for olive oil. This experience will be extremely valuable on a market that is ever-more attentive to packaging personalisation and the parallel - and necessary - reduction of manufacturing costs.