One of Australasia’s leading paper and packaging companies, Opal (a member of NIPPON Paper Group), opened the doors to its Melbourne facility recently for a self-styled Innovation Expo, which enabled the company to show customers its application of new digital printing and cutting technologies, ‘creating a wonderland awash with vibrant colours, show-stopping design and clever engineering’.
Opal invited its customers to step inside a a 'wonderland awash with vibrant colours, show-stopping design and clever engineering'
The event brought together customers, suppliers, designers and creative agencies to experience first-hand how Opal’s design, manufacturing and national delivery network can create bespoke, commercially-effective and innovative packaging solutions.
Paul Godenzi, Regional General Manager for Opal Specialty Packaging Victoria, says: “This same Open Day event is also being rolled out at our Opal Speciality Packaging sites in New South Wales, Queensland and New Zealand, to ensure that all our customers can see first-hand the consistency of the vibrant, high-quality printing we can deliver across multiple locations.”
A highlight of the event was the national rollout of advanced digital printing and cutting systems from Kissel+Wolf, including the Revo and iECHO, integrated with the Esko Automation Engine. Jamie Weller, Managing Director of Kissel + Wolf, personally acknowledged Opal’s commitment and investment in advanced digital technology across multiple sites as ‘a bold step that sets a new benchmark in the industry’.
As part of a live demonstration to showcase the breadth of Opal’s new technology, those gathered were invited to have their photo taken in front of a visually striking, colour-rich laneway scene. They then stepped inside a life-size cardboard house filled with creative and innovative packaging products, before moving to the factory floor to see Opal’s newest technology in action, including the high-speed Nozomi printer, Revo digital press, Highcon Laser cutting technology and iECHO cutting systems. By the time they reached the end of the ‘tour’, their photos had been printed, cut and finished in under 20 minutes, as a vivid reminder of the speed and quality now achievable with Opal’s printing technology.
The Opal team used this event and the experiences of those who attended to reinforce the notion that its technology enable short and medium-run print jobs, rapid prototyping and customised solutions for retail point of sale displays, specialty packaging and promotional and seasonal product campaigns.
David Watson, founder of Watson Design, notes: “As a creative design agency, we’re always keen to learn more about bringing brands to life. It was impressive to see the combination of smart structural engineering paired with stand-out print quality.”
With operations across Australia and in New Zealand, Opal is confident that it offers a strong value proposition around flexibility and speed in market through bespoke, shorter print runs and the ability to scale up for larger volume print runs, as required.
