Intelligent, Modern Production—W&H
Julian Zurbrüggen, sales manager, converting machines, and Herbert Rode, divisional manager, technical sales converting machines at W&H, viewed the current challenge succinctly. “Today, it’s all about packaging cost reduction. The mission: make setup times as short as possible. Accommodate the highest possible speed and most demanding designs. Turn out the best quality possible. Also, minimize bounce, then address the lack of skillful operators available around the world.”
Photo courtesy of W&H
They say that “intelligent machines that facilitate modern production address those needs and more. Presses are quick and easy to operate, meet the need for sophisticated images, lots of colors, shorter jobs, more repeats, and intuitive/easy handling.” They stress economics and accessibility.
Zurbrüggen and Rode point to W&H’s new, compact, FLEXA II press, targeted exclusively to the industrial sack market and featuring a modular design, dynamic register, and non-stop rewind and sleeve technology, as a machine that fosters fast, efficient job setup. They say that holds, “no matter if you are producing paper valve sacks, film valve sacks or FFS-sacks, no matter if you are looking for an inline 3-color press or a roll-to-roll 8-color press.”
Packaging 4.0, artificial intelligence and data networking help to produce consistent quality and keep efficiency high—even under difficult conditions, according to Markus Bauschulte, technical sales director for print and finishing machines at W&H.
Speaking to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) and W&H’s new Ruby IIOT system, illustrated in combination with a Novoflex II press, Bauschulte reports, “It’s now possible to use your data to monitor, automate and improve your packaging production—or as we call it: ‘Dig Data. Do Better.’”
Photo courtesy of W&H
He implies that “all W&H machinery can be incorporated into the Ruby IIOT system that affords dynamic data sampling (up to every second) for higher data accuracy, extended data visualization (maximum 30 days) for increased traceability, unlimited trends (up to 12 graphs/trend) and additional information (job number, order number, production status, roll number) for more detailed analysis. The resulting benefits include: improved security standards (firewall, encryption, VPN, high production speeds, faster changeovers, intuitive handling and added efficiency.”
Prominent features on the Novoflex II include: center-force CI that eliminates bounce, automated opening and closing of bearing block, automated coupling and positioning of doctor blade chambers, hydro pneumatic deck clamping for maximum rigidity, and a new ink chamber design for faster exchange of blades and seals. Fast setup, changeover and registration result from EASY-REG S, EASY-SET HD and EASY-COL.
Fit to Function—SOMA
“Many companies that own wide web presses are thinking about investing in smaller ones to accomplish some of their work a bit more cost-effectively,” Garrett Taylor, sales director at SOMA, states. He immediately notes his firm’s Optima presses are offered in mid web and wide web sizes, good for a wide range of applications.
Photo courtesy of SOMA
“All utilize CI technology. They are gaining more interest because they are more flexible in configuration and footprint, and when considering substrates—from thin to thick—make it easier to implement inline functions,” Taylor says.
He alluded to FLEXO’s printer poll findings. “The fact that a majority of companies are looking at new flexographic presses within three years is very exciting—particularly given the current economic environment. It means that many consumer goods companies—and printers/converters—are still very active.”
Taylor further observes, “Shorter runs in flexography is the trend initiated by brand owners, and how it is achieved is done in many ways. The most effective method is through automation in the process. Smart, intuitive operations and automation really respond to the top five printer concerns, from performance expectations to handling short runs. Our SOMA mantra is, ‘Short-run flexo. It’s what we do best.’ For example, our presses can set impression and registration in a few minutes with almost zero-meter set-up waste.”
Printers doing more with less, with intelligent features, is an accepted theory, according to Taylor. “You are seeing more and more quick changes and makereadies in flexography, offered by total throughput automation. So, what does that mean from SOMA? There is automatic impression and registration with ARUN mounting devices, which leads to reduced waste and less human error, resulting in overall savings. This also means that experienced operators, while always preferred, are not required. Today, it is assumed that a modern printing press provides at least adequate quality and effectiveness.”
Taylor returned to FLEXO’s findings and emphasized, “The top five ‘other decision drivers’ all relate back to short runs and efficiencies, brought about by quick changes and automation. It’s all about throughout and saving money. In many printers’ minds, they have enough wide web presses, so an investment in a narrower press offers less ink use, smaller plates and quicker changeovers, which lead to greater efficiency. In SOMA’s case, that means a more ergonomic and user friendly press.”
For example, he maintains, “Bounce or vibration is one of the biggest challenges that we face in flexographic printing. SOMA presses are built with the objective of reducing vibration in the print deck. That starts with a rigid frame. To take that to the next level, our new, next-generation presses also have intelligent job tuning, which is a specially designed software algorithm analyzed for each plate. Intelligent job tuning is the second-generation advanced bounce control feature, contributing to exceptional print quality. It is performed during job setup (taking less than one minute) and minimizes the bouncing effect for each particular design.”
Connecting to MIS/ERP systems is vital, notes Taylor. “It helps the printer monitor the progress of any job, refine estimates and understand where there is room for improvement in print processes with cloud-based solutions.”
Taylor continues, “Another example is that SOMA presses use software to deliver intelligence from the mounter to the press. The topography of a plate is read in the mounter and saved in a chip. Once the sleeve is moved to the press, the same data is reported to the press and to the deck. Registration and setting impressions are much quicker.”
Cruise Control—Omet
High productivity, efficiency, astonishing print results, improved production potential and the ability to integrate inline printing and converting technologies, then apply them to any substrate from 12-μm. film to light carton board—talk about a printer’s wish list. Omet has tagged it and moved out to assist in extending product portfolios.
Photo courtesy of Omet
Its XFlex X6.0 embraces a modern interface with touchpad controls that make the press user-friendly, ergonomic and intuitive, offering the operator a new working experience driven by the comfort of a fully automatic and independent process.
Important features of the machine include: fully removable inking cassettes, light ink pans, automatic setup and registration, optimized tension control, direct drive motors and cruise control—automatic adjustment of the printing pressures at every change of speed, substrate thickness and repeat length.
Possibilities that fit with one-pass converting capabilities include: hot foil, cold foil, inline lamination, die cutting and embossing. Material can be converted roll-to-roll, roll-to-blank or roll-to-sheet.
This OEM credited “Omet’s Transparent Factory” with creating “a bridge between the press and your MIS system, via an easy-to-facilitate link to your intranet and ERP.” All production data can be transferred from the press, and job specs and recipes can be uploaded from any computer or tablet.