Innovative automation machinery company Trimatt Systems has big plans for food and drink packaging in 2023, with its aqueous ink colour digital printer for SMEs leading the way.
Melbourne based Trimatt Systems is riding high off the back of a successful 2022; with the launch of its Trimatt 1170 and winning the inaugural Australian Machinery Manufacturing Award – SME at the APPMA Awards of Excellence in May 2022.
It recently rebranded the Trimatt 1170 to Trimatt ColorStar AQ, an aqueous ink colour digital printer for SME sustainable food and drink packaging, and released the Trimatt FoldLine 9000, designed for folding and gluing food tray sleeves.
In the first quarter of 2023, Trimatt is set to release its anticipated Trimatt ColourStar UV, a compact CMYK UV print system for coated packaging, and a first of a kind in Australia.
Much like the AQ, the UV has feeding capabilities, height adjust, a Trimatt conveyor, and clever collection tray.
Trimatt marketing and sales coordinator, Mel McFarlane, says the company will be hosting demonstration open days in most capital cities this year, with dates soon to be announced.
A colour star
In the last six months, Trimatt has sold 10 ColorStar AQ machines, which McFarlane says correlates with the trend of companies being financially motivated to begin printing in-house. Such a move can see a 25-36 per cent increase in retained profit, providing a successful ROI, she says.
“The Trimatt ColorStar is designed so that anyone can operate with ease – from a pizza box manufacturer to a boutique food manufacturer, to an online food packaging company wanting to reduce lead times and win more business.
In Perth, Western Australia, hospitality packaging specialist MJ Goods recently purchased the machine.
Owner and managing director Matt Marchese says, “The set-up time was really quick and operating the system is easy to learn, and that’s coming from someone that has never used a printer before,” Marchese says.
McFarlane explains, “The HP print engine produces vibrant images using aqueous, organic, pigmented CMYK inks. Waterproof, scratch resistant and light fast prints are produced at speeds of up to 27 metres per minute.”
She adds that new markets are increasingly opening in food packaging for the ColourStar AQ machine.
“Among many industries, we are really excited to begin working along-side microbreweries in the short-run printing of their craft beer cartons in 2023.
“Another strong market is coffee roasters, for their valved coffee bags and take-away packaging. Currently, food packaging companies areone of the leading markets for very good reason; this unique machine is so diverse in the applications.”
Marchese says, “We have a range of customers in varied fields that would definitely like to customise products they use. For example, we supply coffee cups to several cafes and restaurants. This is going to be a big market for us.”
“Across the board, the ColourStar AQ is helping all markets save significantly on their package printing costs by giving them the ability to fulfil their own packaging needs, on time, with less storage needs, and with ease.”
The printer prints on pizza boxes, clamshells, take-away food trays, cake boxes, zip lock bags, paper bags, boxes, beverage cup sleeves, beer carry boxes, shippers, and coffee bags with valves with ease. Any reasonably flat uncoated paper or cardboard product up to 100mm in height can be printed on.
“With single use plastic bans now in place and the increasing sustainable mindset of consumers looking for custom branded sustainable packaging, the Trimatt ColourStar AQ is delivering perfect prints, quickly and economically.
“As an HP OEM, no stone has been left unturned with the development of this machine. Working closely with our customers and understanding their businesses, we have really created a product with vision and versatility,” McFarlane says.
Marchese adds, “With the capabilities the Trimatt 1170 gives us, we can greatly expand what we can do for our clients. I’m really excited about the possibilities this gives us. In fact, I’m almost certainly looking at adding another system because I know the demand is there.”
Orkun Bayhan from printed bag specialist Ausbag in Melbourne, recently had Trimatt install the printhead onto one of his flexo offset lines. The company now uses the machine as the primary printer for paper bags due to the quality, ease, and speed of the set-up and printing.
Above the fold
Trimatt Systems has a raft of solutions in automation machinery, and with a strong engineering team has a solution for every problem.
The FoldLine 9000, is a premium automation machine that feeds, folds and glues ready-made meal sleeves and any other cardboard wrap around labels for a food product packed in a tray, providing the customer with a full brand experience. It also folds and glues food packs for take-away sandwiches, cup sleeves, and many other food packaging items.
The machine has been designed with an extremely small footprint at only five metres in length. With incredible speed, it can produce 20,000 glued folded sleeves per hour and is fully customisable to suit specific variable needs. This compact machine operates seamlessly with precision and optimal performance, Trimatt says.
Inkjet printing and camera inspection can be added to print and read unique QR and barcodes and text. A labeller can also be added for particular promotions, to help satisfy even more market opportunities. Waste reduction and increased output are significant features of the add-ons.
Adding value to finished products, this versatile system is used for many markets such as FMCG, financial, retail, bindery and fulfilment, magnet, self-mailers, gift card and greeting card applications, and offers the finishing capabilities that make printed products stand out in a crowded market.
With a digital printer and ValidForm variable data reader added, the FoldLine 9000 can also ensure an application is error-free by reading and collecting unique data from printed media, and monitoring in real-time the performance of the printed job, while checking for missing records, duplicates, mismatch, and poor quality.
McFarlane says, “The recent sale of a FoldLine 9000 to one of Australia’s leading food packaging machinery companies was so rewarding. It gives the company the capability to fulfil large scale orders cost effectively and with a fast turn-around, keeping Australia competitive in the market.”
Contributing to and strengthening the Australian manufacturing economy is something Trimatt is very proud of.
This article first appeared in the February-March 2023 edition of Food & Drink Business magazine.
