Oce North America announces it has qualified several products created by primary fibers paperboard producer M-real Corporation for the Oce Arizona® Series of UV flatbed printers. The products qualified include Carta Elega, Carta Integra paperboard, and Kemiart topsheet used in corrugate packaging applications.

"Oce's qualification of the M-real products now provides packaging companies entering into digital packaging an immediate, high-quality, proven result that not merely works on the digital flatbed, but traditional offset or flexographic presses, as well," says Randy Paar, Oce North America product marketing manager. "This implies the brand name owner can much more confidently and rapidly sign-off over a prototype after which see it go into production knowing how the final result would be accurately reproduced on the very exact same media."

Qualification consisted of producing samples on the Oce Arizona printer in the Oce Knowledge Center in Itasca, IL observed by further evaluation by M-real. The resulting picture quality and ink adhesion were exceptional using the Oce IJC256 Series inks, even when printed at high-volume production speeds. Using the companion Oce ProCut™ digital cutting table for creasing and cutting, both ink and substrate demonstrated good structural performance with virtually no cracking, chipping, or scuffing of the printed package with either paperboard or corrugated board.

"The samples of M-real's Carta Integra and Carta Elega FBB (Folding Box Board) produced on the Oce Arizona printer looked exceptional," says M-real Americas Technical Marketing Manager John Sarik. ¡¡ãAdditionally, prior samples of Kemiart Lite and Kemiart Graph produced on the exact same printer as blended corrugated board showed very good color intensity, critical for POP display work, and fine detailed screening used in halftone reproductions."

The Oce Arizona Series of printers are versatile in a variety of applications, and they are able to print directly to rigid substrates up to two inches thick having a maximum eight-foot-by-ten-foot picture area