“IIJ’s expertise in inkjet has helped us radically change a manufacturing process. Michelangelo is a real revolution in cylindrical packaging decoration.”
An authentic breakthrough in tube decoration using digital inkjet technology has changed the course of history for equipment manufacturer Martinenghi.
Industrial Inkjet solution
Martinenghi’s business has been transformed by the expertise of Industrial Inkjet Ltd (IIJ).
Michelangelo is a ‘revolutionary’ digital printing machine for cylindrical printing born from the creativity of a team comprising of IIJ and Konica Minolta. It is now in full commercial production. IIJ and Konica Minolta combined their own inkjet expertise with Martinenghi professionals who are highly experienced in the design and manufacture of machinery for tubes and aerosol cans.
Major benefits from IIJ:
- Creating a new printing cylindrical container technology in a market that for 50 years had relied on letterpress, flexo and silk / screen printing.
- Equipping Martinenghi with inkjet expertise to open up new markets for their customers to lead market change, not follow.
Background
It all began with a simple internet enquiry from Martinenghi to IIJ in 2009. For more than 50 years, the whole cylindrical market had been using basically the same technology – letterpress, flexo and silk / screen printing.
Martinenghi has a long and successful background in creating high quality production tube manufacturing systems. But as run lengths came down and customers demanded increasing personalisation, Martinenghi needed a new way of meeting market demands. So together with IIJ and partner Konica Minolta, a five-year focused development project was started with one aim: to create a full-specification production system. The project was a classic example of how IIJ supports OEMs to develop the necessary expertise to build business operations in the fast-developing market of inkjet.
Customer experience
“IIJ’s world leading expertise in inkjet has helped us radically change a manufacturing process.” said Paolo Venturelli, Martinenghi’s Managing Director. “IIJ has been extremely supportive over a very long time. The result is the creation of Michelangelo, which is a real revolution in cylindrical packaging decoration. We’re incredibly excited about the opportunities. Now aerosol can and collapsible tube manufacturers are in the position to decorate their products using the optimum digital process.”
John Corrall, Managing Director and founder of IIJ, said: “The realisation of this project is what we’re all about. Inkjet is still very much a developing technology, but one that can radically change a manufacturing process, as with Martinenghi. The ability to instantly change the printed image opens up major new opportunities for brand development of consumer products.”
