"We've been expanding our capabilities in specialty packaging over the last several years, particularly specialty secured-type packaging with gift card carriers, and that sector of our business continues to just get bigger and bigger," said Charlie Cox, COO at Wallace Carlson. "We are always looking for ways to differentiate what we offer by experimenting with special effects. We started getting into some unique applications with different coatings, glitter, pearlescence and more and we wanted a press that was equipped with the advanced features required for delivering high-end specialty package printing."

Specialty package printing requires a heavier stock, special substrates, special colors and distinct types of finishing. When COVID-19 was at its peak and people were sheltering in place, Wallace Carlson experienced a surge in its packaging business. To meet this demand, a press that offered more robust features was needed. The Lithrone GX40 advance is built to print on up to 40-point substrates, including board, paper board, synthetic materials, plastics, polyurethane and polyethylene with a host of special effects, like the glitter the company was producing, that appeal to the secured packaging industry.

Speed to market is critical in all industries, but often more so in timely secured specialty packaging. "The speed of this press is amazing," noted Cox. "Another feature we looked for, and this press delivers on, is the ability to pull up a job six months from now and go right to the perfect print setting, knowing that everything that we ran on that job previously will be there because the press has self-learned those settings."

The company's new Lithrone GX40 operates at speeds up to 18,000 sheets per hour and offers a host of automated features, such as the newest Asynchronous Automatic Plate Changing system (A-APC), reducing plate change and makeready times to a fraction of traditional systems. It is also equipped with KHS-AI, an integrated, self-learning control system, that optimizes various press presets by self-learning according to changes in the machine, environment and substrates.

"The Lithrone GX40 advance is the perfect press for producing the creative, unique applications Wallace Carlson is known for," said Mark Milbourn, executive vice president at Komori America. "Wallace Carlson has been a loyal Komori customer for years and we are more than thrilled that it is the first company in the U.S. to experience the benefits the Lithrone GX40 advance's cutting-edge technology will add to their continued success."