oneECG

oneECG is BOBST’s Extended Color Gamut (ECG) technology deployed across analogue and digital printing processes in label, flexible packaging, folding carton and corrugated board industries. 

What is ECG?
Extended Color Gamut printing (ECG) is a process to digitize color matching, thus making it stable, easy, repeatable, consistent and independent of human interpretation.

ECG refers to a set of inks - 4 and beyond, but typically 7- to achieve a color gamut larger than the traditional CMYK ensuring color repeatability irrespective of operator’s skill.

Why ECG?
Brand owners and consumers perceive color variations as a lack of product quality, heavily affecting brand identity and customer loyalty. Brand’s colors should be consistent irrespective of the printing process, the substrate, and the country where production is done. Furthermore, color matching of PMS Pantone colors is often left to the ability of operators to mix the inks, adapt to the different substrates and other subjective elements. This strong component of the operator’s skill cannot ensure perfect reproduction and repeatable consistency of the brand colors.

• Exceptional color quality, repeatability and consistency worldwide
• Flexibility across substrates
• Immediate color matching, with limited or no adjustments on press
• No print unit washing, ink and anilox roller changing (i.e. High press up-time)
• Fast time to market, independent from the skills of the operator
• Ease of operation and full process automation
• Minimum waste of substrates and consumables
• Better print quality due to higher screen resolution High profitability producing very short and very long runs

Thanks to the diffused knowledge of ECG and color management, BOBST is a preferred partner for converters looking for “cross” packaging applications, on multiple substrates, with accurate color matching requirements. 

oneECG offers end-to-end solutions developed in collaboration with leading industry partners from pre-press to the printed and converted substrates. It is only the seamless integration of all elements that concur to an end-to-end process, from the design file through to inks, printing, converting and the final product that enable to exploit at best the powerful potential of ECG printing, eliminating the risk of producing color defective substrates.   BOBST oneECG solutions are tailored to the requirements of each type of printing technology to ensure the successful and efficient implementation of the Extended Color Gamut process.  
 

• oneECG for inline flexo printing  - Labels, flexible packaging, light folding carton 
  oneECG is BOBST contribution to pioneering project set up in 2013 by a team of leading industry suppliers. oneECG for inline flexo printing guarantees cross compatibility and color consistency between flexo and digital technologies, and a drastic reduction of material and ink waste, energy and water consumption and CO2 emissions, contributing to customer and environmental sustainability. Today oneECG has been successfully deployed on multiple BOBST presses installed worldwide.
   
• oneECG for CI flexo printing – Flexible packaging, labels,  linerboard pre-print
  oneECG for CI flexo presses is an open-partnership system to multiple suppliers, developed for Extended Color Gamut printing using solvent-based,  water-based, and Ebeam inks. Leading suppliers in the flexo industry are collaborating to achieve the highest color stability and repeatability. oneECG partners are certified to ensure quality of results on BOBST CI flexo ECG presses. 
   
• oneECG for gravure printing – Flexible packaging, labels
  oneECG for gravure printing presses is developed for Extended Color Gamut printing using solvent-based and water-based inks to achieve the highest color stability, repeatability and print consistency worldwide. Having achieved outstanding color performances in oneECG in gravure, BOBST has the expertise and technology for ECG-ready printing presses, whether it be a new press or a retrofit package, and can guide converters on how to deploy oneECG in gravure printing in their own facility. To assure the highest industry standards, oneECG in gravure works in collaboration with multiple leading suppliers along the entire ECG workflow in a high level open-partnership system. 
   
• oneECG for flexo post printing  – Corrugated board
  In oneECG for corrugated board flexo post print, all spot colors are realized from the 4 to 7 process colors, delivering perfect color density with solid printing and very high quality on a large range of liners.  Based on a cloud application for coordinating production, oneECG technology, first introduced in 2017 under the name of THQ, also enables new and unique security features required by brand owners.