Günter Meyer, sales manager at KBA-Metronic AG, said, “Of course we are delighted that at such an important event as the International Climate Change Conference of the United Nations in December 2009 will be equipped with environmentally friendly hotel key cards printed with the unique printing technology of KBA-Metronic’s OC 200. As more and more environmentally friendly products are being demanded in the marketplace, buying the OC 200 is exactly the right decision.”
The company says that, while the production of such cards is nothing new, this card, produced on a KBA-Metronic OC 200 single card printing machine is a first for the printing industry and for card technology. It says that, following successful test trials in KBA-Metronic’s experimental print shop at Veitshöchheim, Germany, the US company Sustainable Cards LLC, based in Boulder, Colorado, recently decided to launch its environmentally friendly product on the market. It installed an OC 200 single card printing machine with a primer unit, four C-M-Y-K printing units and one varnishing unit at its site in Sweden.
Sustainable Cards intends delivering more than 100,000 wooden key cards for Copenhagen hotels. Peo Akesson, CEO and founder of Sustainable Cards, said, “The OC 200 prints without water and does not need the isopropanol normally used in conventional offset printing. That means it corresponds precisely to our expectations.”
KBA describes its OC 200 as a modular printing machine that prints single cards without using water in the ISO standard format 85.5 x 54 mm with UV-curable inks. Its temperature-controlled Anilox inking unit for zoneless ink transfer ensures an even inking, providing excellent print quality, according to KBA. The company also says that, because it uses no water, no alcohol and no powder, the machine prints in an environmentally friendly way and leaves no emissions.
KBA says that the OC 200 can print on most commercial cards up of to 1.2 mm thickness and that it can process cards with magnetic stripes and chip recesses. Users can configure two to six print units, a primer unit, a coating module, a paternoster vertical conveyor module for high gloss effects, and a card turnover unit according to their needs. KBA also says that only a few waste cards are needed before a printing format can be set up. A card turnover unit enables printing of cards on both sides in one pass. It also has a quick-action clamping device for quick mounting of printing plates and UV dryers located after each printing unit for faster packaging after printing.
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