With a two-day event dedicated to news, digital printing and finishing solutions, Simeoni Arti Grafiche opened the doors of its site in Sommacampagna (Vr) for the inauguration of the new Scodix Ultra 202, digital technology thanks to which creativity takes shape and finishing becomes art
The versatility of digital technologies, combined with great creativity and the ability to finish any printed item, transforming it into true art are the basis of the great success of Simeoni Arti Grafiche, a company with 29 years of history, born as a prepress service for offset and then transformed into digital print provider, starting in 2000, when Simeoni immediately believed in the potential of digital printing with the installation of the first HP Indigo for small format, followed by a Kodak Nexpress, to be able to print also banners thanks to the 35×100 format of the machine, and other flatbed printing technologies up to the latest news entered in production, the Scodix Ultra 202 with in-line foil.
“With this installation we have seen how, with the same technologies, capacity, inventiveness and creativity of a company are the distinctive elements that can make the difference, placing proactively on the market”, begins Rinaldo Mattera, Heidelberg, which represents and sells Scodix products for the Italian market.
From creativity to the finished product: complete digital cycle
From simple business cards, to catalogs, to more complex cardboard products such as exhibitors and packaging, at Simeoni Arti Grafiche, every type of print takes on an artistic aspect, where the creativity of designers finds in technology its most precious ally.
The company, which has around 20 employees and a € 2.5 million turnover, is managed by two partners Silvano and Diego Simeoni, works with both brand owners and other printers, who especially in the field of high-end finishing find in Simeoni a serious and reliable partner.
“We believe that the installation of Scodix is extremely strategic for us but also for the Triveneto market, given that we are the only ones in this area to be equipped with this technology and we are sure we can make a difference. The interest aroused by this open house, that attracted around 150 people representing around sixty companies, bears witness to it”, begins Silvano Simeoni. Technologies and know-how are the heart of this company, as well as the management system that allows to manage more than 50 daily orders, automatically, under control, in maximum security, so that everything proceeds in the best way from file input to delivery and shipment.
The printer doesn’t live only for paper …
However, paper and cardboard are not the only printed materials, in fact in the vast portfolio of products for small and large format proposed by Simeoni there are also gadgets, wall clocks, paintings, wallpaper, wrapping products, sandwich walls, pop-up exhibitors, roll-up, a varied range of products and materials, to meet different needs. As a strategic and commercial choice, in order to avoid being trapped in the mere logic of low cost, Simeoni Arti Grafiche has chosen to perform works that can only be carried out with digital technologies, providing the customer with unique products and therefore with the added value that the customer is willing to recognize even economically. We are not just talking about short runs, but also about all those jobs for which presenting a faithful sample of the printed matter would not be possible without digital printing, and whose final execution in digital is the direct consequence.
“We already had requests for finished products for which we used external suppliers. With the increase in orders and with increasingly limited time from order to delivery, it has become essential to close the circle even with internal finishing, which also allows us to experiment and be able to propose new products to customers. Scodix finishes many materials, but not all of them and therefore it becomes important to test it, both for small runs but also for larger production lots, for which in addition to quality we must also guarantee a minimum quantity of waste”, explains Diego Simeoni.
Scodix Ultra 202 in detail
“With this installation, Scodix reached 15 installations in Italy and nearly 400 in the world both in format 50×70 and 70×100,” comments Mauro Luini, Regional Manager at Scodix, “the market needs to be informed about the potentialities of this technology, that mustn’t be lived as the simple replacement of traditional machines, but that can offer something more in the field of finishing. Moreover, we notice ever more frequently, after having showed to customers the machine qualities, limits included, as these are easily exceeded, both relatively to the materials and thicknesses, discovering further potentialities of our technology”.
Scodix Ultra 202 installed at Simeoni has 50×70 format, extremely solid from a mechanical point of view, with industrial feeder, format B2 plus 54,8 x 78,8cm. Every single sheet is transported and positioned on a suction table, that thanks to linear magnetic divers moves on, leaving the sheet firm and solid on the table, for a perfect register, even for jobs with multiple passage, guaranteed by 4 cameras.
The print heads release the selected polymer onto the graphics to be finished: Scodix has designed a series of polymers, equipping the machine with various tanks ready for use, depending on the process to be performed and the materials. Once the polymer is released on the sheet, LED lamps guarantee immediate curing, producing a perfectly dry and ready job for other processing. The heart of the system is represented by Scodix proprietary Rip, able to perfectly interpret the graphics to be enhanced and release the exact quantity of polymer to reproduce the effect in the desired thickness.
With this version it is also possible to apply the foil with cold process in line, ideal for digital technology. This module is designed by the British company Compactfoiler, leader also in offset sector, a feature that stands out above all from the presence of industrial-type servomotors, thanks to which it was possible to optimize the use of foil during production.
“We are particularly proud of this system that allows us to reduce the actual distance between the subjects to be enhanced, which can also vary by several centimeters, thanks to the mechanical movements of the motorized servo cylinders on which the webs are mounted, reducing the waste of not used foil”, concludes Mauro Luini.
The open house was organized in collaboration with Heidelberg, which for the occasion brought two Versafire EP 115 ppm and EV 95 ppm digital printing machines with the addition of the fifth color; Luxoro supplied Kurz finishing foils, including the novelty of foil + glitter; Fedrigoni created a series of uncoated papers specially designed to exploit the potential of digital.
