Print Sleeves Price, Purchases & Preferences
Respondents listed the following manufacturers as current providers. All received multiple mentions. In alphabetical order: Agfa, Flint, Inometa, Luminite, Meca, OEC Graphics, Poly West, Polymount, Rol- Tec, Rossini, Rotec and Xymid.
Costs of individual sleeves/cylinders to poll participants varied:
- 48 percent said they pay more than $350 apiece
- 28 percent cited $200 to $250
- 16 percent pegged cost at $300 to $350
- 8 percent listed $250 to $300
- 36 percent purchased more than 30 individual sleeves/cylinders per press
- 32 percent bought 20 to 30
- 16 percent, 10 to 20
- 12 percent, 5 to 10
- 4 percent, 1 to 4
Targeting Print Sleeves Improvements
Not missing the opportunity to express desires for improvements in performance, efficiency and productivity of print sleeves, printers currently using such systems called upon their current supplier and potential future sources to look to continuous improvement.
Sample audience members took time to request specific concerns be addressed with the expectation being that quality, consistency, efficiency and performance—collectively, plant productivity—could be positively affected.
The wish list included 10 critical concerns: TIR (total indicated runout) and durability, wear (life), tolerance, run out, damage, swelling, initial cost plus engraving cost, inconsistent performance, manufacturing defects and stability/bounce.