Roll Feed Aids Sheet Handling

Printing on substrates presents various challenges, not the least of which is handling slippery or sticky sheets. More sure-handed material handling is one of the main reasons Hammer Lithograph, Rochester, NY, has installed an eight-color, 40″ Heidelberg Speedmaster CD 102. The sheetfed printer ordered the press with aqueous- and UV-coating capabilities, closed-loop scanning spectrophotometry—and Heidelberg's CutStar roll-to-sheet feeder.

"Running these challenging substrates from a roll rather than from pre-cut sheets lets the press run faster and more consistently," says CEO James Hammer, with this added bonus: "We can adjust CutStar exactly to the sheet length we need, which saves material." In essence, CutStar combines the cost benefits of web stock with the flexibility of sheetfed. Rolls are less expensive than pre-sheeted converted material, yet they work well when sheeted and fed directly into offset presses. Handling problems associated with slippery or static-prone piles of pre-cut metallized papers and synthetic label stocks also are reduced.

The mid-2004 installation marks Hammer's first Heidelberg and the first U.S. CutStar installation geared to print on lightweight oriented-polypropylene film from rollstock. The configuration lets Hammer produce sheets of cut-and-stack labels faster—running at 15,000 sph—while trimming production costs and waste.

Founded in 1912, Hammer Lithograph's affiliates are New Frontier Packaging, a producer of roll-fed flexo labels, and J. MacKenzie, Ltd., a sheeter/converter of on-demand print papers. Hammer Litho's $56 million in annual sales represents 70% of the three firms' combined revenue.

Over the years, Hammer has expanded its capabilities to include high-quality, multicolor cut-and-stack labels for food and beverage markets; and puzzles, box wraps and point-of-purchase materials for consumer-goods makers. It's now the world's largest printer of cut-and-stack bottled-water labels.

Growth has prompted several relocations, most recently a 1999, $15-million capital improvement initiative, including construction of a 92,000-sq.ft. plant on 14 acres near the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). Proximity to RIT's School of Print Media has given rise to an educational exchange program for Hammer associates and customers. In fact, employees must complete 16 hours of in-house and off-site training each year as a condition of employment.

Hammer's 265 workers operate facilities three shifts a day, up to seven days a week in the busiest periods. One secret to steady, double-digit growth is a vendor-managed ordering (VMO) system for contract clients, through which production orders are downloaded daily and fulfilled based on contractual pricing. Hammer also developed a vendor-managed inventory (VMI) order system that links to other key customers.

Acquisition of the Speedmaster is a logical extension of the company's involvement in the market for synthetic labels. Hammer Litho's pressroom contains a fleet of Mitsubishis: two 7-color, 56″ presses, two 8-color, 40″ and one 6-color, 40″.

A five-year trend toward OPP-substrate labels accounts for most of the growth in Hammer Lithograph's business, says its CEO. From an environmental standpoint, beverage labels must be compatible with the plastic containers, principally so they can be easily recycled together. Top customers include Nestlé's Poland Spring water, Coca-Cola's Minute Maid juices, PepsiCo's Tropicana and Cadbury-Schweppes' Snapple and Mott's beverages.

Hammer's new press is networked to Heidelberg's Prinect Image Control. The closed-loop system monitors color, in keeping with the growing customer demand for verified reduction in print-quality deviations. After measuring the entire print image spectrophotometrically—the only system on the market to do so—Prinect Image Control determines deviations from predefined reference values and automatically tells the operator what adjustments are needed. Once approved, changes are sent online to the press, which then regulates the ink zones in all the printing units simultaneously. Hammer Litho's version, capable of scanning up to eight colors in a single pass, gives it an important competitive advantage in the exacting label business, where color/brand consistency is key.

The press is wired to a digital Nexus/Artwork prepress system feeding a Screen platesetter imaging KPG plates. Nexus permits ink presets, when desired. Hammer also operates a bank of programmable Polar cutters, automating setup in the trim-intensive label finishing process.