BOBST Open House Celebrates Gravure
- Published: June 12, 2017
SAN GIORGIO MONFERRATO, ITALY | BOBST recently held an event entitled “Extending the scope, new technologies for gravure” at its headquarters in San Giorgio Monferrato.
“We had great information to share and created a spectacular show to tell our story,” says Michele Vitiello, head of gravure and lamination business unit web-fed and managing director of BOBST Italia. “The event was a big success in two ways that make us proud: the success achieved from the point of view of the event content, showcasing the quality of the innovations presented and the success of the event format that we chose to convey the information to the participating audience.”
After a quick overview of the BOBST gravure product range, Giovanni Caprioglio, sales and marketing director, gravure and lamination product line, BOBST Italia, pinpointed the two main areas of improvement in the latest configuration RS 6003C HS gravure press. These included a new dryer technology and revisited inking systems, which have been developed along four main requirements of performance, ergonomics and safety, environmental sustainability, and energy savings.
Caprioglio illustrated how the quantum efficiency of the new twin flow drying system not only enables the shortening of the length of the dryers and lowers the residual solvent on the web to what he said are unprecedented levels in the industry, but also how it impacts in a cascading way on the performance of other functions, improving the overall press performance.
The demonstration included the latest high-speed meter roller (HSM) and multi-purpose inking (MPI) designs, alongside their technical specifications and respective advantages.
Attendees received a presentation on BOBST Services, which company says is enhancing its capabilities to serve web-fed machine customers more rapidly. As one part of a transformation program, the technical personnel workforce will be increased by more than 50% to keep productivity at an optimum level, and during the Open House, new, innovative, and connected services were demonstrated. New monitoring Apps will help customers to remotely monitor production or machine downtime across all machines on the shop floor in real time. Production data can be accessed and analyzed at any time and from anywhere, using mobile devices such as mobile phones, tablets, or computers.
The demonstration of the 1,300-mm RS 6003C HS gravure press started with the press rapidly achieving a speed of 500 mpm printing in reverse with solvent-based inks on a 17-micron BOPP film to produce a typical high-end, high-volume confectionery pack, followed by an automatic splice on the rewinder at full speed.
Reportedly, the audience noted the low level of noise that was experienced as the machine reached the higher demonstration speeds; a 5-dba reduction has been enabled by the incorporation of a new sound-dampening technology in the dryers. The dual impingement and floatation technology is one of the company’s hallmarks of its laminators and coating machines. However, the company says it is the first manufacturer to apply it on a gravure printing press, generating an increase of up to 15% in drying performance.
Also demonstrated was the RS 6002C shaftless gravure press, running an 18-micron LDPE substrate. Company says throughout the run, the tenure of the register was extremely accurate, making the press ideal to print sensitive substrates at high speeds, and for handling thinner materials for the production of packaging, which are less costly to produce and also fully recyclable. The Open House also featured the CL 850D laminator, highlighting the performance at speed variations of the Registron system.
The forum and Open House was attended by 180 guests, including 150 converters from numerous countries worldwide.
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