It held an event earlier this month at its New Hampshire factory in the USA with American and European printers attending to view the variable sleeve web offset litho technology for packaging.
The flexible packaging event followed one held at the end of last year focused on cartonboard printing.
According to Goss European director of business development for packaging David Muncaster, flexible packaging applications proved the most interesting for European prospects for the technology, which was introduced at Drupa 2012.
"The most exciting market is the flexible packaging side, it’s the fastest growing area," said Muncaster. "Products that were in tins and jars continue to move to stand up pouches."
He added that flexible packaging printers currently using gravure and flexo technology were interested in the lower origination costs of a litho press.
"The low set up costs are very attractive; flexo plate making costs are significantly higher, they can be 10 times the price of litho," he said.
Goss is positioning the Sunday Vpak range to sit between digital and flexo and gravure processes.
"The Vpak, and offset generally, suit smaller run lengths, while digital is great for very short runs and prototypes," he said.
Goss is one of several firms targeting packaging printers with web-offset litho, other firms include DG Press Machines with its recently announced Thallo concept.
Goss is working on more detailed costing models and breakeven points of the Vpak versus all the other printing technologies.
"There are a lot of convertors operating in the space where the Vpak makes sense," he added.
For flexible packaging applications the biggest interest is in the widest version of the Vpak 500 and the wider Vpak 3000 offering the ability to gang up jobs on the same web and compatibility with downstream processes such as laminating.
Muncaster concluded that for gravure and flexo converters the events had been important not just to show the attributes of the Vpak offset technology but also the size and expertise of Goss.
