Trade.Information

Product Name: Pneumatic Waste Removal Systems

Product Description

To achieve and maintain desired production output and quality, flexographic label printers must manage all aspects of the printing operation in close unison. If only one area backs up, the entire operation is jeopardized. The removal of trim and matrix waste, if not managed properly, can create just such a back-up. This paper discusses the current method of removing this waste and addresses the industry trends driving the choice of pneumatic type waste removal. It also will delve into a description of how these systems work and the determining factors to consider in specifying them. Industry Trends Production Speed and Efficiency As with all aspects of the business, increased competition, narrower profit margins and greater end-use demands are compelling flexographic label printers to be ever alert to ways to fine-tune their operations to achieve and sustain maximum speed and efficiency in their equipment. Anathema to good business practices is equipment downtime because it is money not earned. If personnel are "on the clock" and the bank is holding paper on your presses, money not earned represents lost profits and lost business opportunities. Though it is often overlooked, the efficient and easy removal of trim and matrix waste is a critical part of sustaining maximum productivity in the printing operation. The conventional method of rewinding trim and matrix waste has become an impediment to efficient operation. To minimize waste and, thereby, maximize profits, label printers are decreasing the trim width and the amount of matrix. This makes it more difficult to rewind waste because it is more susceptible to breakage causing interruption of the printing operation. Similarly, the substrate gauge is decreasing to breakage, again interrupting operation. Non-stop operation is critical to cover the cost of the printing equipment and recoup a respectable profit. Line interruption represents an impediment to that goal. In addition to trim and matrix breakage, the operation is stopped when the rewound waste has to be removed. These are more than minor annoyances when you consider that many printers now employ butt splicing on the unwind and rewind to attain continuous operation. In fact, they run counter to this trend. Product Quality Because waste rewinds compel machine operators to monitor waste removal in addition to monitoring the money-making aspect of their job, label printing, print quality is vulnerable. You cannot ensure total quality management if an operator spends anything less than all his or her time monitoring the proper application of inks and coatings on substrate. If that operator has to make sure the trim rewind is running properly, that the matrix has not broken, that the spool is not overfilling, then he or she is not devoting his or her full attention to the most important aspect of his or her job. In the end, product quality is vulnerable and, by extension, so is your business relationship with your customers. Safety Concerns Similarly, if the operator is not devoting full attention to the printing operation, but is also monitoring waste rewind, the waste rewind becomes a further distraction that can negatively impact on his or her safety. Safety experts insist - quite correctly - that machine operator safety is decreased in direct relation to the number and diversity of tasks he or she must manage. Why add a non-productive task that can only add to his or her risk? Waste Recycling To recycle waste, as many jurisdictions now dictate, it has to be segregated properly. Wound waste presents problems here, too, by adding paperboard rewind cores to the mix. Pneumatic Waste Removal There are basically two types of pneumatic waste removal that address all of these potential impediments to p roductivity, profitability, safety and recyclability: centralized waste removal systems and venturi waste removal systems. Each has its appropriate applications. Regardless of the specific application, by ridding the individual printing operation of the burden of managing waste rewind, the accompanying threats to productivity, product quality, worker safety and recyclability are eliminated.