High-speed sample box production system - GS2 and Creator evaluation report

Mr. Brian Blundell has worked in the prepress department for many years. About five years ago, he realized that brand owners and retailers needed faster product promotion speeds, which required shortening the time from the new product idea to the time the product was brought to market. In addition, he also noted that species diversity is a trend. In order to ensure that the desired final package quality is achieved, rapid proofing of the carton becomes a basic requirement.

In July 2001, Mr. Blundell and Mr. Matthew Faulkner founded Gencia. Since then, the company has been systematically developing this technology. Since its development, the company has been able to provide a complete set of desktop systems that can be prototyped in just three minutes with simple operations. In fact, the system is extremely easy to operate and can be used for the production of small sample boxes.

GS2 image transfer unit

The core part of this system is the GS2 thermal transfer unit. It combines a lightweight paper with traditional, high-quality inkjet proofing with specially coated cardboard. After processing at a high temperature of 200 degrees for 16 seconds, the image is transferred to the paperboard (printing material). Achieve the effect of close to offset quality. The key to this system is the company's self-designed and formulated spot-color inks with specially processed substrates. These substrates are coated with a colorless coating and have the ability to accept image transfer.

In the early days, the system could only perform a simple analog offset printing process and would not perform other finishing operations such as glazing (high gloss and matte) or flexo. With the further development of technology, more finishing processes can be realized. Use different formulations of paint can achieve different glazing effect, but also for the printing material in a specific location of the glazing. The final proofs accurately reflect the original intention of the carton design. In addition, other finishings can also be achieved by using an independent process, such as: hot foil.

The improved system has more features. In addition to cardboard, it is suitable for sample box making of various materials. It can process corrugated cardboard just as it can handle paper used in labels and medicine. In addition, if the plastic material is not affected by high temperatures, it can also handle plastic. This means that GS2 has a broader potential market.

GS2's original working format was A2 (420 x 594mm) and now it can provide a larger format. At present, the image area of ​​the largest model is 850×1150mm, but in theory, the width of this machine can also be larger. More large-scale equipment helps to expand the scope of application of the system, can be used for the production of cartons, display packages and large cartons. Therefore, Gencia continues to try to develop large-format devices. The current limitation is that although the dimensions of other dimensions can be provided on request, the largest format that Epson printers can produce is 1117mm.

Creator Die Cut Indentation Unit

At first, the process of the system was: after the printing of printing materials, manual die cutting into a suitable shape, and then indentation, and finally paste into a finished paper box. Now, this process has been improved. In addition to the thermal transfer system, Gencia also offers desktop graphics capabilities for die-cut indentation. This unit is called Creator, which follows the GS2 system and uses the same file format as GS2 (such as Adobe Illustrator). Creator provides printed, die-cut sheets that need only to be pasted. In addition, it can also die-cut blank cardboard before printing on die-cut paper. This means that users of the GS2 can first prepare the paper stack and die-cut it into a well-designed standard pattern, and then only need to transfer the image. This makes the production process faster and more efficient.

One of the improvements currently being implemented by Gencia is the partial embossing of printed materials on the Creator. This will be more conducive to making sample boxes with various finishing effects. Mr. Blundell said: "For a long time, we have been tirelessly expanding the scope of application of this system. The recent experiments in stress relief are successful, so we hope to integrate this technology into Creator in the near future."

Growing market

The system was born out of a simple design concept. It is compact and ideal for placement in the office. It is easy to use and can quickly produce the necessary proofs. Compatibility with traditional software means that it can easily implement proof changes. Only need to modify the program in the computer, print the revised proofs, and then transfer it to the printing material. The system can produce a large number of different designs or even different shapes in a very short time, which is a low-cost way. GS2 is now widely used and sales continue to grow. Many companies, such as Procter & Gamble, Nestle, Kraft and Kelloggs, have used this system to produce proofs. Smurfit, in conjunction with its Printvision enterprising spirit, has the first large-format system for corrugated cardboard.

All that GS2 needs is specially processed cardboard (or other substrates) and special inks for printing. Gencia stores various types of substrates and also offers a glazing machine so that large users can finish the glazing process within the company simply by purchasing conventional materials.

The company has a number of distributors in the United Kingdom and offices in overseas (Spain, Japan and North America) and has also made planning adjustments to develop its sales network. As Mr. Blundell said, “We are pleased with the benefits of GS2 and we are greatly encouraged by the level of sales we have achieved. We feel that we have achieved a lot in the past few years. Our goal is to continue to develop this. Technology to ensure the need for high-speed production of prototypes to help develop new and retrofit products.”

Source: Global Box Industry