Alliance Packaging starts with EFI Nozomi

Alliance Packaging is adopting high-end, direct-to-board digital printing with the purchase of an EFI™ Nozomi C18000 single-pass corrugated packaging press from Electronics For Imaging, Inc. (Nasdaq:EFII). The ultra-high-speed press is a groundbreaking offering in the digital corrugated packaging space because of its high production capacity and its complete integrated system.

Alliance Packaging – the Northwestern U.S.’s largest independent corrugated box manufacturer – is installing the breakthrough digital production press at its Seattle headquarters facility to provide its customers with new capabilities that will reduce waste, cost and turnaround time. The second-generation, family-owned 500-employee business focuses on high-end corrugated applications and specializes in fast turnaround times, intricate designs and superior-quality printing.

“We are excited about this press because it is the only digital press available today that allows us to double-down on our strategy of short lead times mixed with high-end graphics,” said Alliance Packaging President Scott Younger. “We chose EFI because of their incredible customer service, the quality of the Nozomi, and the press’s ability to produce high-end work at an economical price point.”

Unprecedented efficiency for direct-to-board digital printing

Shipped in March with installation scheduled for completion in May, Alliance Packaging’s new 71-inch (1.8-meter) wide press takes digital corrugated printing to new levels of productivity. Operating at speeds up to 246 linear feet (75 linear meters) per minute, the Nozomi C18000 can print up to 10,000 35×35-inch (890×890-mm) boards per hour two-up. Its single-pass, piezo grayscale inkjet writing system delivers accurate, high-fidelity color, including excellent, consistent reproduction on solid areas. Alliance Packaging’s press will include a six-color configuration of Genuine EFI Inks (CMYK, orange and violet) for superior-quality, expanded-gamut imaging with matte, satin or glossy finishes.

Alliance Packaging currently does high volumes of analog, litho-lamination production on boxes and corrugated displays – work that requires a two-step printing and lamination process with longer turnaround times, higher set-up costs and more waste. The new press will give the company the power to migrate much of that work to efficient, direct-to-board digital printing produced in the exact quantities that clients need.

The press also opens the doors to important new premium-quality offerings that are too costly to produce with analog methods, such as targeted, versioned or multi-SKU retail packaging that drives higher sell-through on consumer goods.

The EFI Nozomi press also gives users a significant sustainability advantage in digital print, as it is the only ultra-high-speed, single-pass corrugated inkjet press to have its output certified for OCC recyclability and repulpability by the Western Michigan University Recycling, Paper and Coating Pilot Plant – a leading certification organization for corrugated recycling.

Alliance Packaging’s EFI Nozomi press is the ninth EFI Nozomi transaction completed and shipped as of the end of March 2018.

Alliance Packaging’s new ultra-high-speed inkjet press is part of a complete ecosystem for corrugated manufacturing available from EFI, with leading edge inks, Fiery DFE technology and a complete EFI Corrugated Packaging Suite business and production management workflow. For more information about advanced digital corrugated packaging production with EFI technologies, visit http://www.efi.com.