SabreXtreme now offers network connection enabling a company’s art department to directly load a library of label cutting patterns to run. The patterns are selected by the operator using barcodes printed on work orders. In addition, the software now permits all machine settings to be saved so that exact patterns can be stored for later use.

Explaining the changes, Designer, Mike Davison said, “Network connection means that the artwork can be edited by the pre-press department and sent to a job queue ready for digital printing. At the same time, the digital die pattern is created within the software and sent to the laser label cutting system. Small label jobs are grouped by material so they can be run on a single roll using a digital press. At the same time, a work order is generated that lists the jobs in the sequence in which they occur on the roll using a barcode list. The operator then loads the roll and the patterns using a barcode reader. As one job is running, the next can be loaded. Job changes are carried out through a single push button.”

The SabreXtreme laser label cutting system meets the increasing demand for shorter print runs and is capable of producing hundreds of different die patterns a day. Small jobs become more profitable and efficiency in the print shop is also maximised as traditional converting equipment is free to run longer jobs. The system is currently available for 330mm (13”) maximum web widths.

“New patterns can be tested on scrap material before production starts and the settings stored by the software,” adds Davison. “This ensures optimum label cut without waste when production starts.”

AB Graphic International is a worldwide supplier of label converting and finishing machines with facilities in the UK, Netherlands, Spain, Germany and United States. The company offers a full range of converting lines either standard or tailored to requirements. New products include the Digicon Series 2 modular label converter, the Digicoat to prepare substrates for digital printing, the Digilam film laminator and the FSR film rewinder. Specialised applications include pharmaceutical converting lines, off-line RFID, booklet labelling and Braille machines.