Algoma, WI-based labelmaking giant WS Packaging Group expands print capabilities for foils, metallized labels, folding-carton stocks and synthetics with a new six-color Komori Lithrone 40 (www.komori.com) sheetfed-offset press (above). The equipment is now the second Lithrone 40 in the converter's Oak Creek, WI, facility.

“The addition of this press effectively doubles our capacity because it's a twin to our existing press,” says Jon Botting, Oak Creek general manager. “We have 100-percent interchangeability between presses for greater scheduling flexibility and improved lead times. The main new capability we now have is UV coating. Printing on foil is a strong positioning point, as are applications where we want to print an opaque white basecoat or color with an ink dry-trapped over the top.”

All of these capabilities complement WS Packaging's PromoPrism™ flexographic services, allowing sheetfed production for prismatic folding cartons. Some early applications the company has executed include folding cartons for nutritional supplement packaging and cut-and-stack labels for the paint industry. Conventional printing on paper and board with the capability for high-gloss UV coating offers a real value-added service, WS says.

In related news, WS Packaging Group expects to break ground this month on its new $4 million world headquarters in Green Bay, WI.