FDBusiness.com

Chesapeake Limerick, part of Chesapeake’s Pharmaceutical and Healthcare division, is taking delivery of Europe’s first Komori GLX 740RP Carton printing press as part of a €4m investment programme at the site. The seven colour machine which includes a reverse printing unit and double coater is part of a major company-wide investment programme that has benefited all of Chesapeake’s operations.  The installation follows hot on the heels of a six colour GLX40 Komori at Chesapeake’s Leicester plant shortly after the GLX models were launched at drupa last May.  In the last three years, Chesapeake has installed a range of presses including a six-colour Komori Lithrone 40’s at its Nottingham, Leicester and Belfast operations, all of which, like Limerick, specialise in the production of cartons for the pharmaceutical and healthcare market.

During that period, in line with strong investment in equipment, upgrades and building improvements at many of its forty-three manufacturing facilities in Europe, America and Asia, Limerick has also been a recent beneficiary. Over the past three months, the site has benefited from the installation of a new cut & crease press, a CTP unit and an advanced image verification system.  Comments Bobby O’Connor, Divisional Sales and Account Director: “Further development at Limerick is very much on our agenda, as is investment across the whole of Ireland. This demonstrates our unrivalled commitment to the pharmaceutical, healthcare and medical device markets in Ireland.”

Says Chesapeake Limerick’s Operations Director, Morgan Fogarty: “We’ve been very impressed with the GLX installed at Leicester which has offered increased automation and environmental related improvements.  Its dual-camera inline quality inspection system, spot measurement and Komori’s new spectral density control has helped to optimise product consistency. These benefits have led us to select a similar specification for Limerick, this time enhanced with the Reverse Printing unit and double coater.”

Morgan continues, “The reverse printing unit will enable us to provide our customers with the opportunity to print information such as user instructions on the inside of packaging – which is an increasing and welcome trend, as it reduces material requirements and ensures that vital instructions remain with the product. Another continuously increasing design trend on OTC healthcare packaging to enhance shelf-appeal is the use of varnish coatings. The double-coater on the new press will allow us to combine matt and gloss varnishes and metallic finishes. It will also assist us in delivering many other special effects such as our own 3D Glint™ product, holographics and micro-embossing.”

Comments Komori  UK’s Director of Sheetfed Sales, Steve Turner: ( To add – possibly: “The larger sheet size of 1050 times 750 millimetres on the X version of our S40 presses is especially useful on smaller format carton work. If supported by the right cut & crease presses, it adds the capability to print a further row of cartons, which, in turn, shortens the run length and optimises material usage.”)