Budget, format, purchasing window, function, must-haves, desired features, critical concerns and influential forces—all contribute to determination of the perfect press. Just ask any printer poised to make a purchase—FLEXO Magazine did.
By their accounts, business is booming. Demand for newly engineered protective packaging that meets today’s safety and security thresholds is skyrocketing. Busy plants are looking for new opportunities. Expansion is in the works. Efficiency is driving every move. Bringing new machinery online is the strategic charge, primed to enhance both productivity and profitability, starting with the press—the heart of every package print production line.
Do press builders agree? That’s certainly a logical question. So, FLEXO approached major original equipment manufacturers and asked for their assessment of printer sentiments expressed. Comment was solicited on a range of topics, namely:
- Basics and buy plan
- Decision drivers
- Essentials and wish lists
- Other considerations
What follows is a summary of the interpretations offered, as well as insider insights on how machines available today address printers’ priorities. It’s organized by manufacturer, for easy reference.
Photo courtesy of PCMC
Maximizing Uptime—PCMC
Carl DuCharme, product and applications leader at PCMC, proclaims, “We are seeing an increase in ‘ready-to-buy’ customers and find that the vast majority plan to pay in full. While pricing is a factor, buying the right machine with the right features seems to be more important currently. Matching product mix is critical to revenue generation.”
ROI should take prominent position in any buying decision. According to DuCharme, “Performance expectations, additional capacity, reduced cost of operations, short runs, automated operations, particularly any that promote faster makereadies—auto set, impression, viscosity control—deliver greater efficiency and let the printer identify bottom line benefits.”
PCMC has found that “accessibility has increased in importance, as this enhances quick changeover and supports the shorter-run trend in industry for production jobs. Uptime remains a top factor for customers.”
Designed to reduce the need for human intervention, PCMC’s latest generation of presses was developed with integrated AI features. Innovations like automatic registration and impression settings utilize cameras to eliminate operator error as presses adjust to address print inaccuracies on their own.
DuCharme elaborates on the point and says, “Our SteadyPrint anti-bounce technology serves a similar purpose, as algorithms are used to monitor, adjust and address the negative impacts of bounce on printing in real time. These AI features have become more important, not only with the demand for shorter runs, but also as packaging with more intricate artwork continues to rise in popularity.”
He further remarks, “As the pace of business continues to move more quickly, finding new ways to stay one step ahead remains a growing challenge for industries today. That’s where PCMC’s smart features and connected services can help. Through options like video troubleshooting and data monitoring, we use our knowledge to minimize downtime for our customers around the world. We can offer quicker response times and immediate recommendations that prevent your equipment from costly failures.
Photo courtesy of PCMC
“Ultimately, our smart features and connected services deliver on the promise of Industry 4.0 technology to your bottom line,” DuCharme maintains. “By bridging the gap between humans and machines, we’ve created connected work environments that will ramp up your production levels to meet tomorrow’s needs using today’s equipment.”
For flexible packaging, “thin film friendliness” has become increasingly important, as substrate costs continue to be driven down, DuCharme notes. “Thinner films equate to lower cost.”
“Maximizing uptime is the ultimate goal for every manufacturer,” he states. “That means parts availability is critical whenever a part wears or fails on a piece of equipment. PCMC has created a stocking strategy for commonly used parts and stocks more than 2,600 parts in a dedicated warehouse. Seventy percent ship within the same day. Our 24/7 phone support ensures customers can place an order any hour of the day, any day of the week.”
Sophisticated Approach—Comexi
Blurring lines—that’s what Jordi Puig, flexo brand manager at Comexi, sees when he compares the narrow, mid and wide web press markets. Mid web is hard to define. He describes it as “more natural web width for flexible packaging than narrow web,” then adds, “At times, it is unclear where mid web finishes and wide web begins.” Plus, “With the line between narrow web and mid web not very transparent, inline presses now fall into both categories. Even hybrid machines see an increasing interest, although this is not a significant occurrence yet.”
Photo courtesy of Comexi
“Price is defined by the complexity of the machine, and currently we see that there are more and more applications in the market that will require highly sophisticated presses, not only for applications, but also for the adaptation of tendencies, such as shorter runs, less skilled operators, etc.,” Puig mentions. “In effect, machines will be forced to be more automated, and OEMs will have to incorporate innovative solutions without increasing prices. This is evident from the 45 percent of companies in FLEXO’s recent survey that want to spend less than $3 million.”
He observes, “Performance expectations are higher than ever, and at the same time, there are less skilled or experienced operators. As a result, machines are forced to be more intelligent and less operator-dependent. Short runs dictate that quick-change tooling that affords throughput and productivity are found throughout every press installed in 2020. Furthermore, quick-change tooling should rank above speed where short runs drive the business.”
“Sustainability and efficiency are critical points, particularly as it relates to re-engineering production,” Puig argues. “They are crucial to every waste reduction initiative.”
“Presently, we believe it is difficult to imagine a machine without quick setup, auto register, auto impression, auto tension control, self/remote diagnostics and viscosity, which all of our machines have. I believe that all OEMs are pressing automated workflow, anti-bounce technologies, artificial intelligence—particularly as it relates to connectivity and job analytics as well.”
Puig points out that “curiously, FLEXO’s printer poll revealed that, robotics is not highly valued, when short runs are one of the tendencies and require frequent changes. Robotics is a part of our portfolio and one of the technologies that we believe will grow significantly in the coming years.”
Other observations that he voices include: “There is a high interest in EG (expanded gamut), although in actuality, this is not a necessity yet.” And his final assessment: “Time of delivery for new machines is of great concern, particularly during the current COVID-19 pandemic, where operations can be delayed and more complicated than ever before, thus compelling everyone to reinvent, on a daily basis, in order to maintain short delivery times.”