Package printer Excelsior Packaging Group of Yonkers, NY, reportedly purchases the first HelioStar® GE gravure press sold into the North American market by Windmoeller & Hoelscher Corp., Lincoln, RI. The machine will be installed at the end of 2005 and will be fully operational by January 2006, W&H says.

Excelsior's system is the third generation of HelioStar servo-driven presses, which was introduced at Drupa 2004. The high-speed, 10-station gravure press incorporates in-line lamination and in-register backside coating and is intended to serve Excelsior's rapidly growing packaging business for food, industrial, medical and healthcare customers. The HelioStar GE to be installed at Excelsior incorporates W&H's new RSP (Register Scan Preset) technology, an automatic laser pre-register setting for faster changeover times, and speeds up to 1,500 fpm.