Executive Outlook
Andy Gillis General Manager Provident Group
or CI press can have a big impact on the amount of ink used, especially on a run of say, 180,000 six-color, 35-pound dog food bags. It’s also important to remember that all blades on a press are equally important, so your containment and metering blades must also be precisely mea- sured and correctly installed. Begin with exact measurements, such as those supplied by the press manufacturer. However, there are four or more anilox rolls on a CI press and we ŬŶŽǁĮƌƐƚͲŚĂŶĚƚŚĂƚďůĂĚĞůĞŶŐƚŚƐĂƌĞŶŽƚĂůǁĂLJƐŝŶ - terchangeable across those rolls. So be precise when you place your order. Accuracy is especially important when taking your own measurements. You need to either buy a tool for precise measurement—and use it correctly—or have your press or doctor blade supplier make the measurements for you. The Right Blade for the Job ^Ɵůů͕ ĞǀĞŶ ŝĨ LJŽƵŵĞĂƐƵƌĞĚ ƚǁŝĐĞ ĂŶĚ ǀĞƌŝĮĞĚ ƚŚĞ ĞdžĂĐƚƐŝnjĞďůĂĚĞLJŽƵŶĞĞĚĞĚ͕ƚŚĞĞīŽƌƚĐĂŶďĞǁĂƐƚ - ed if you aren’t specifying the right type of blade to begin with. Like so many other things about these ƐĞĞŵŝŶŐůLJ ŝŶŶŽĐƵŽƵƐ ƐƚƌŝƉƐ ŽĨ ƐƚĞĞů͕ ƉůĂƐƟĐ Žƌ ƉŽůLJ - ester laminate, there is more to doctor blades than ĮƌƐƚĂƉƉĞĂƌƐ͘^ŽLJŽƵĂďƐŽůƵƚĞůLJŵƵƐƚŽƌĚĞƌƚŚĞƌŝŐŚƚ blade for every job. For example, I think of a customer who was running Ă ůŽƚ ŽĨ ƟƚĂŶŝƵŵ ŝŶŬƐ ďƵƚ ŶŽƚ ďƵLJŝŶŐ ĐŽĂƚĞĚ ďůĂĚĞƐ for use on his white decks. Coated blades are resis- ƚĂŶƚƚŽƟƚĂŶŝƵŵŝŶŬƐ͕ƉƌŽǀŝĚŝŶŐĂůŽŶŐĞƌƐĞƌǀŝĐĞůŝĨĞ͘ dŚĞ ƐĞĞŵŝŶŐůLJ ůĞƐƐ ĐŽƐƚůLJ ŽƉƟŽŶ ŽĨ ŶŽƌŵĂů ďůĂĚĞƐ ǁŽƵŶĚƵƉĐŽƐƟŶŐŵŽŶĞLJďĞĐĂƵƐĞƟƚĂŶŝƵŵŝŶŬƐͶĂƐ you well know—have a tendency to chew up normal, uncoated steel blades very quickly. When you do the ŶƵŵďĞƌƐĂŶĚĐŽŵƉĂƌĞƚŚĞĐƵŵƵůĂƟǀĞĐŽƐƚƐŽĨĐŽŶ - ƟŶƵĂůůLJ ƌĞƉůĂĐŝŶŐ ŶŽƌŵĂů ďůĂĚĞƐ ǀĞƌƐƵƐ ƚŚĞ ůŽŶŐĞƌ life of coated ones, it is clear that you can be spend- ing money you don’t need to spend. And it’s not just the cost of the blades: changing blades takes your ƉƌĞƐƐŽŋŝŶĞǁŚĞŶŝƚĐŽƵůĚďĞƉƌŽĚƵĐƟǀĞ͕ĂĚĚŝŶŐƚŽ the real cost of the cheaper blades. KŶĞƐĞĞŵŝŶŐůLJŵŝŶŽƌĨĂĐƚŽƌŝƐƚŚĞďůĂĚĞĞǀĂůƵĂƟŽŶ
Back to Basics
One of the things we know, as ink systems experts, is t hat a well-managed ink system helps ensure every job runs smoothly. The issues we’ve seen are all related, although some may focus on one component more ƚŚĂŶ ĂŶŽƚŚĞƌ͘ ^Ɵůů͕ ŽŶĞ ŽƌŵŽƌĞ ŽĨ ĨŽƵƌ ďĂƐŝĐ ƉŽŝŶƚƐ ĂůǁĂLJƐƐĞĞŵƐƚŽĐŽŵĞƵƉ͕ŶŽŵĂƩĞƌǁŚĞƌĞǁĞŐŽ͘ ^ŝnjĞDĂƩĞƌƐ /ƚƚƵƌŶƐŽƵƚƚŚĂƚƐŝnjĞŵĂƩĞƌƐ͘ůĂĚĞƐŝnjĞ͕ƚŚĂƚŝƐ͘/Ŷ fact, when a customer asks us to evaluate their inking ƐLJƐƚĞŵƐŽŶĞŽĨƚŚĞĮƌƐƚƚŚŝŶŐƐǁĞĐŚĞĐŬŝƐƚŚĞƚLJƉĞ and size of the doctor, metering, and containment blades they are using. We have found inaccurately or inconsistently cut blades to be leading causes of chamber leaks and ex- ĐĞƐƐĐŽŶƐƵŵƉƟŽŶŽĨďůĂĚĞŵĂƚĞƌŝĂů͘/ƚŝƐĞĂƐLJƚŽŽǀĞƌ - ůŽŽŬĂďůĂĚĞƚŚĂƚ͛ƐĂĨƌĂĐƟŽŶŽĨĂŶŝŶĐŚƚŽŽƐŚŽƌƚ͕ďƵƚ the wasted ink can add up quickly over a long press run, increasing the cost for a job. This seemingly mi- ŶŽƌŝƐƐƵĞŝƐŽŶĞƚŚĂƚŵƵƐƚďĞĂĚĚƌĞƐƐĞĚƚŽŽƉƟŵŝnjĞ performance and help keep costs under control. On a visit to one mid- and wide-web packaging ƉƌŝŶƚĞƌ͕ĨŽƌŝŶƐƚĂŶĐĞ͕ďůĂĚĞƐĐƵƚũƵƐƚĂůŝƩůĞƐŚŽƌƚǁĞƌĞ ĐĂƵƐŝŶŐ ůĞĂŬƐ ŽŶ ƚŚƌĞĞ ĚŝīĞƌĞŶƚ ƉƌĞƐƐĞƐ͕ ĚƌŝƉƉŝŶŐ ŵŽŶĞLJĞǀĞƌLJƟŵĞƚŚĞƉƌĞƐƐĞƐǁĞƌĞƌƵŶŶŝŶŐ͘tĞƌĞĐ - ŽŵŵĞŶĚĞĚƉƵƌĐŚĂƐŝŶŐďůĂĚĞƐƉƌĞͲĐƵƚƚŽƚŚĞƐƉĞĐŝĮĐ lengths required. Our technical sales rep measured the correct lengths and shop management agreed to blade lengths of 49.6755”, 45.725”, and 65.475”. We shipped two samples of each size to verify prop- er length before ordering pre-cut blades. Note here that measurement was to the thousandth and even ten-thousandth of an inch: further proof that size ĐĂŶƌĞĂůůLJŵĂƩĞƌ͘ZĞŵĞŵďĞƌ͕LJŽƵƌŝŶŬĐŚĂŵďĞƌƐĂƌĞ pressurized, so even a small leak on a 6-, 8-, or 10-col-
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2 Executive Outlook Special Report
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