The thin film technology specialist said that it had been excited at the prospect of getting together with customers and industry contacts at Labelexpo in Brussels but when the show was cancelled it took the opportunity “to proactively react to the situation” with its own event.
Kicking off last month and being held through to 28 October at its headquarters in Fürth, Germany, Kurz Label Weeks will see Leonhard Kurz and several subsidiaries presenting products for the hot stamping, cold transfer, and digital embellishment sectors, as well as security labels and thermal transfer ribbons.
“On the one hand, our motivation was to bring the industry together and meet the need for personal, direct exchange – not via camera and microphone, but face-to-face,” said Stéphane Royère, head of business area packaging and print at Kurz.
“On the other hand, in the label and packaging industry, it often makes a huge difference whether you only hear and read about something or experience it first-hand. Here, I could mention the live demonstration of a new machine as an example.”
The group held a virtual press conference last month to show off some of the kit that visitors are also able to see physically. Machinery on show includes the DM-Uniliner 2D by Kurz subsidiary MPrint and the new DM-Uniliner 3D by Kurz subsidiary Steinemann DPE.
Both machines are said to offer cost-efficient and resource-saving decoration while the digital metallisation units can be used independently of the existing printing system and process.
They also enable digital finishing in pre-print and post-print processing, “ensuring the greatest possible flexibility”.
The company told Printweek the DM-Uniliner 3D was launched in early 2022 and is based on a modular concept. Reaching speeds up to 100m/min and with “exceptional accuracy”, it ranges in price between €400,000 (£336,000) and €700,000 depending on configuration.
Also live at the show, Kurz is enhancing labels and packaging with coating effects and metallisation, among other things.
It is also presenting monojet 324, a module developed by MPrint. This system for UV inkjet printing is suitable for printing labels with QR codes or barcodes, batch numbers, and more.
An on-site demo is showing how labels can be enhanced using monojet 324 and the Distorun cold transfer unit, for example with unique 2D barcodes such as the Digital Product Passport from Kurz Digital or the glossy, metallised 3D effects of the Trustseal SFX technology.
Kurz is also offering a digital platform on which the displayed machines and products can be explored, an additional service for anyone unable to make it to Fürth in person during the trade fair period.
The Kurz Group employs more than 5,500 staff at over 30 sites worldwide and produces under standardised quality and environmental standards in Europe, Asia, and the US. It has a global network of subsidiaries, representatives, and sales offices, including local subsidiary Kurz UK.
