Delivering Ink Mixes

Press add-on systems delivering ink to sheetfed presses can increase production and reduce waste. They pump containers to the last drop, or drain canisters so completely that they can be dumped in the regular trash bin. In the quest for greater efficiency and lower costs, some sheetfed printers are turning to ink-dispensing systems for their mid- to large-sized presses. These systems make use of electronically controlled and automated ink cartridges and also provide the ability to track and report ink usage. Disposable cartridges are pre-filled by ink makers and then snapped into fittings on the pumping system.

While ink peripherals are not new—web lines have seen them for decades, and they've been on stream for sheetfed presses since the mid-1980s—what is new is the realization by more sheetfed printers that these add-on devices are becoming essential to maintaining a competitive edge.

“For customers who do many color changes, then it just gets in the way,” says Chris Travis, technology director for KBA North America. “For customers printing 4-color process on the same units, then there is a benefit. For customers who require better ink management and [need] to know how much ink was run for each job, then this equipment is invaluable.”

In fact, far from merely auxiliaries, some peripheral vendors contend that their equipment is a critical component that can make or break the ability of a press to perform to its design parameters.

Today's printers have to charge less than they did in 1997, so their economic edge is anything that enables them to increase volume by running more jobs per shift, ink pumping included.

On larger-format sheetfed presses, “We have seen customers going with pumping systems direct from a 55-gallon drum to eliminate cartridges,” says KBA's Travis. That's the case for Branch Smith Printing, Ft. Worth, TX, a commercial book and publication printer that doesn't manage a lot of color changes—its forté is 4/4 process work. The firm went live three months ago with an 8-color, 51´´ Rapida 130 perfector—part of a $9-million expansion in the first half of 2007.

Branch Smith has been pumping ink from drums from a centralized dispensing system for the better part of seven years now. “We were one of technotrans's first North American sheetfed installations,” says GM Daniel Hansen, whose pressroom includes six Heidelberg presses: three 40´´ Speedmasters, two of which are 8-color perfectors, as well as a refurbished 2-color perfector; all have roll-sheeters. With the new KBA, the printer now has 26 printing units using the ink.line drum system.

“Ink levelers in webs distribute across all fountains,” Hansen notes. “Technotrans adapted [this technology] for sheetfeds; the levelers are on a hinge that can be swung over. Four 55-gallon drums is like having 90 five-lb. ink cans,” he adds, “so there's significant cost savings. Plus, we eliminate labor, reduce waste and improve consistency—the same ink is delivered to all presses with the same viscosity.”

Hansen prints out ink.line reports on ink poundage used per color. “We change drums of cyan and magenta about once a week now,” he says. “Cost reporting is better, too, theoretically, but your operators have to use it [the system].”

With the large-format Rapida running 32-page, 8.5´´ magazine and book signatures, Branch Smith is considering converting one of its 8-color Heidelberg perfectors to a cover press with canister ink delivery. “We could run 7-over-2, with one or two PMS colors and coating, in a single pass,” says Hansen.

Visual Systems, Inc. (VSI) installed technotrans ink.line automated delivery units on two Heidelberg 6-color, 29´´ CD 74s in its Milwaukee plant nearly two years ago. (Both presses have anilox coaters; one is a hybrid-UV configuration.) The fully automatic, traversing supply system ensures minimal filling levels in the ink ducts via 4.4-lb. ink cartridges. Ink is agitated and added only where required, ensuring quick ink changes and reducing ink losses. (See sidebar on ink cartridges, p. 22.)

VSI, which prints book components and overhead transparencies, was acquired last month by book printer Visant, Armonk, NY. The Wisconsin firm also uses Mixmaster ink-formulation software for mixing inks. “We are looking at the possibility of adding a GFI Innovations Magnum ink-dispensing unit for automated ink mixing,” says Dean Alger, pressroom technical coordinator, “but we are trying to find a way to be able to mix inks directly in our cartridges rather than in a 5-lb. can.”

In a departure from conventional dispensing, the Mx6 Magnum Pantone Color Formulation Dispenser uses no mechanical valves and no whetted plumbing, instead marrying gravimetric and volumetric dispensing theories. The results are fast, accurate and reliable: Mx6 can dispense a 5-lb., four-component batch of Pantone color in about five minutes—within an accuracy of +/- .002 lb. per component—making custom colors easy to do from multiple ink lines, in-house and on-demand.

GFI currently has an option for using a vibratory paint mixer that mixes the inks after they have been dispensed from the Magnum unit. “But that forces us to transfer the ink into our cartridges, which we would like to avoid,” Alger explains. “We are looking into the possibility of being able to find a larger paint mixer that can handle high-viscosity UV inks and the rather long ink cartridges that we utilize on our presses.”

Before there was automated ink dispensing, many printers report that the quantity of ink running in presses depended entirely on who was dipping it in. “If you put three pounds of ink in the fountain and asked three different people how much was there, you'd get three different answers,” confides one pressroom superintendent at a Midwestern plant.

Press operators are prone to overloading fountains so they don't have to go back and do it again—another potential strike against consistency. Lehigh Lithographers' experience on the East Coast is no different.

“Most operators fill fountains with ink so they don't have to constantly monitor them,” says Charles Krenkler, engineering and maintenance manager and a 25-year Lehigh Litho veteran. Now part of Visant Corp., like VSI, the Pennsauken, NJ printer went into live production last month on two new Heidelberg UV presses: a 6-color, 29´´ CD 74 and a 2-color, 40´´ SM 102 perfector. Lehigh purchased technotrans ink accessories as part of a total package, Krenkler says, adding that the labor savings of the ink.mate agitating and dispensing system already is reducing makeready times at the short-run educational book component plant.

“Our second men are preparing skids and getting the next job ready instead of baby-sitting ink fountains,” he notes. Labor's not cheap, and neither is ink. “Less waste is another advantage,” Krenkler says, “especially as raw-material costs continue to escalate.”

The ink.mate system distributes ink evenly over the entire width of the ink duct using an agitator cone and keeps the viscosity of thixotropic inks low, especially in areas with lower ink consumption, such as the edges. In addition, ink is applied to the ductor roller—a basic condition of good printing results.

Plus, there's an ultraviolet angle: Because UV inks don't flow as well as conventional inks, they have a tendency to move away from the ink ball. “If you're not dispensing as much down the ink train, you won't print as well,” explains Krenkler. The technotrans CANbus ink.move device is “constantly moving back and forth,” he says, noting a substantial improvement over hand-dipping and older-style agitators: “We're putting less ink in the fountains and turning it over more often, which keeps it fresher.” The press console tells operators when the dispenser gets low on ink. Although they've been running the new technotrans dispenser for only about a month, “So far, we've been pretty impressed,” he says.

To keep their ink viscous, some printers are using Watt-Flex split-sheath cartridge heaters from Dalton Electric.

Printers who need to match PMS or special colors with a cartridge system can use a dosing pneumatic gun to dispense and mix the ink before manually putting it back into a new empty tube or directly into an ink fountain. For convenience, most users would rather have the ink manufacturer produce the colors for them and insert them into the tubes. Most printers opt for this route—but not all.

Efficiently dispensing spot colors can be challenging because most printers don't use large quantities of custom inks. And wasting ink is an added cost at a time when pricing is competitive and margins can be tighter than deadlines. But having numerous special orders sent overnight isn't a cost-effective way to do business, either.

Ink manufacturers can help printers dispense ink more efficiently and accurately. If the system isn't precise and simple to use, the printer most likely will be frustrated with the process and colors that are off. Size also matters, as no one really wants a bulky system taking up an inordinate amount of floor space.

A computerized system using state-of-the-art software is critical. If an operator can call up a pre-programmed formula for a PMS color, push a button and have the color within minutes, the job will run more smoothly. Both INX International and Sun Chemical are using GFI's rotary design at customer sites in the field—including Consolidated Graphics/Western Lithograph, Houston, and Pacific Southwest Container, Modesto, CA—customizing the device with software. Also available through Pitman dealers, color specifier Pantone is counted among the Mx6 Magnum's more than 20 installations to date. Designed for print runs requiring less than 30 lbs. of ink, the system is compatible with conventional, UV and/or hybrid inks. Its precise approach can reduce inventory and labor. If ink is over-mixed, leftovers can be re-used and mathematically “worked off” by mixing for other colors.

With a narrow-web flexo version of its flagship product firmly in place, the fluid formulator branched out last year, winning a PIA/GATF InterTech Award for its patented fluid-handling technology. (For design details, see GAM “InkEtc.” Oct. 2006, p.74.)

In addition, Superior Printing Ink has its Precision Color Mixing System (PCMS) for in-house mixing use. It includes a Windows-compatible software calculator that integrates to a scale. The blending and recycling system works for both Pantone and non-Pantone color matches using either existing or dormant inventory. And PCMS's small batches are more cost-effective than ordering pre-mixed blends.

Hostmann-Steinberg distributes the ColorMatic Ink Doser 2500 dispensing system from Norway's Tronrud Engineering. The greatest cost savings from automatic ink dosing are realized in the pressroom, where ColorMatic allows printers to use only the amount of ink required to complete the run, thus reducing inventory and waste.

“Scales are relatively coarse in their accuracy, and human error simply compounds this problem,” says an official with Cascades Resources, a division of PaperlinX Canada Ltd., which distributes ColorMatic there. “Mixing more ink than is needed is commonplace—always better to have too much ink than to run out!” Many unused portions remain on the shelf, skin over and are wasted.

“Bad mixes, if caught by a pressman, result in the delay of a re-mix,” the official adds. “Pressmen are also known to attempt corrections in the press ink fountain, resulting in very excessive makeready.” If not caught in the pressroom, he adds, improper dosing can punish printers with customer dissatisfaction or even having to pay for a reprint.

So, high-performance cartridge inks can help streamline operations in any large sheetfed plant while ensuring the high-quality color of printed images. Ink pumping systems and ink cartridges contribute to the bottom line in several ways, including:

• Virtual elimination of ink waste.

• Easy storage of any amount of unused ink in canisters, which extends shelf life and prevents skinning.

• Color consistency and reduction of color fluctuations associated with manually filling ink trains.

• Labor and time savings on adjusting ink keys after filling the ink trains.

• Faster start-up times.

• Improved efficiency—press operators spend less time checking ink fountains and can focus on quality of print.

Narrow-web flexo printers will be interested to note that German label converter Römer Etikett was the first to install the Solaris Colorsat ink-dispensing system, developed in a partnership with Sun Chemical and GSE Dispensing of the Netherlands (formerly part of the Stork Prints Group). This February, the printer reported that it had decreased ink room setup costs by 30% in the first three months since installation.

Römer Etikett's customer base includes many of the best-known international companies covering the food/beverage, hygiene/cosmetics and technology sectors. “Take Nestlé, for example,” says Alexander Römer, managing director. “Five years ago, a single order of a million labels would involve just one print run after set up. Today, we get the same order, but the requirements involve 200,000 labels in orange, the same number in, say, red or blue—and then perhaps a mixture.”

Color consistency, productivity and quality also have improved. “We blend up to 70 different colors per month on average—accurately producing a large variety of special colors in small amounts is absolutely vital,” he notes. “Brand owners want the same consistency today as they did six months ago.”

GSE is the world leader of gravimetric dispensing solutions for the ink, coating and textile markets, with an installed base of 1,100 units.

ONLINE: www.graphicartsmonthly.com, inx international.com, technotrans.com, mixmasters.com, flintgrp.com, cicink.com, gfiinnovations.com, pitman.com, sunchemical.com, gsedispensing.com and wattflex.com