Press maker Koenig & Bauer spruiked the benefits of both flexo and digital at an event in its Würzburg customer technology centre.

The company showed its new EasyTronic CI Flexo (top) to a largely packaging-focussed gathering of 170 attendees.

A major focus was the XD Pro, presented as the workhorse of modern flexo production – demonstrating ECG (extended colour gamut) printing – while a production ‘race’ with the digital RotaJET illustrated how the two processes can work side by side within broader workflows.

The two-day event brought together converters, partners, industry experts and brand representatives April 21-22 to show how the Digital & Webfed division was developing flexo while also printing digitally, showing workflow, software and connected technologies.

Chief executive Stephen Kimmich acknowledged a challenging market environment, but pointed to the opportunities created by the company’s broad base across sectors and technologies.

The timesaving EasyTronic feature - shown with a single-sided heat-resistant belt threading the entire web path, including the complex CI section – had been developed using decades of newspaper printing experience.

On the service front, ‘data glass’ technology was shown, with an instant translation model, designed to strengthen communication between remote support experts and on-site users.

Digital & Webfed chief executive Philipp Zimmermann (pictured) said the event showed that Koenig & Bauer was continuing to develop technology for new market requirements, while being a trendsetter in digital printing, providing application expertise with its partners to create practical solutions for customers.