FREMONT, CA—Electronics For Imaging announced that Complete Design & Packaging (CDP), an independent corrugated packaging provider based in Concord, NC, will be the first business in the U.S. to install EFI’s ultra-high-speed production printing technology, the EFI™ Nozomi C18000 single-pass LED corrugated packaging press. CDP will use the 6-color press for cost-effective, high-quality, direct-to-board digital printing that extends client brand presence in retail corrugated packaging.
Installation of the press is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2017, with production operations going live by the end of the year.
CDP’s founder, Howard Bertram, started the business in 2002. Today, the company offers high-end analog flexo and litho lamination corrugated printing for retail packaging applications. CDP currently does some prototyping and very short-run digital work on a multi-pass flatbed inkjet printer, but after spending the past year examining emerging trends among clients and prospects, Bertram and his business partner, Scott Sumner, sought ways to help customers capture a broader range of brand-building opportunities with high-end, regionalized/localized and customized packaging.
“There are a lot of flexo and litho lamination options out there today, but customers face limitations in their marketing without digital printing, and as a young, independent company, we want to be on the leading edge of that offering,” said Bertram, who is the president and co-owner of CDP. The quality CDP saw touring the world’s first EFI Nozomi C18000 corrugated package converting installation in Spain gives Bertram and Sumner confidence in the press’s ability to deliver higher-throughput, single-pass productivity to clients requiring exceptional printing for greater shelf appeal.
“We chose EFI because of their strengths in R&D and their commitment to make things happen in the industry,” added Sumner, who is CDP’s vice president and co-owner. “In addition to the productivity that comes with single-pass printing on the Nozomi press, Fiery technology was definitely a selling point for us. We could see how EFI’s legacy with digital print color management will be a big plus for us developing our digital packaging business.”
They found that the 71-inch wide EFI Nozomi C18000 single-pass press has the technology to deliver on that opportunity with its exceptional speed: up to 246 linear feet per minute with throughput up to 6,600 2.6 x 3.3-foot boards per hour. The EFI Fiery® NZ-1000 high-performance digital front end (DFE) for the press, based on new, scalable Fiery XB bladed architecture, aims to fast, efficient job processing to eliminate downtime spent waiting for jobs. Plus, the new DFE platform offers advanced EFI Fiery job preparation and color management tools needed for superior quality.
CDP’s customers include food and consumer product manufacturers in a wide range of industries, including the home improvement and home electronics fields. The packages the company produces can be found at The Home Depot, Sam’s Club and other warehouse clubs and big box stores throughout the Southeast. Over time, CDP will have the opportunity to help its customers drive greater sell-through and higher revenues using the Nozomi press to create high-impact, short- and medium-run regional- and demographic-focused designs that are not cost-effective to produce using analog processes.