Label Art Installs Gallus Hybrid Flexo Line

TALLAGHT, IRELAND—June 6, 2013—As part of a €1.5 million investment program, Label Art has installed one of the new Gallus EM 430 S hybrid flexo lines at its plant in Tallaght on the outskirts of Dublin.

It weighs 15.5 tons and is 20 meters long. It has the new wider web width of 430mm (previously 410mm), comes with a shorter web path of 2.2 meters, and is highly specified. No one could possibly say that Label Art is a converter that does things by half! Aside from its vital statistics, one of the major benefits of the Gallus EM S series of presses is their open-module platform design, which allows maximum production flexibility, with simple slide-out-slide-in interchangeable print and converting units.

The new Gallus at Label Art is a UV-flexo, rotary screen, hot and cold foil and embossing combination line, fitted with two die stations. To maximize flexibility, the company has specified 10 flexo heads and four screen heads, even though the line cannot accommodate all of them at one time. Delivered after Christmas, and installed in the early weeks of January 2013, the servo-driven press had been in commercial production for 10 weeks when the author visited end of March, and was already making a significant contribution to Label Art’s business.

According to Sales Director Gerard Molloy, who joined the company in 2006 to head the drive for new business, “We print tested the Gallus EM 430 S against a number of other presses. We liked the speed and comfort with which we can change from a flexo print head to a screen head, and back again without disturbing the web. The hybrid print head is in a class of its own, and since that facility is key to our type of work, the purchase decision was made easy,” he said, adding that the Gallus’ build quality was seen as significant too.

The Gallus EM 430 S replaced two older letterpress machines from the Swiss manufacturer, a Gallus R160B, which was scrapped, and a Gallus R200B, which was cannibalized for parts to keep two other eight-color Gallus R200B presses running. Molloy said the two Gallus R200B presses still produce top quality work with their screen and hot foil capabilities. Elsewhere, two older 16-inch Comco Commanders complete the machine park at Tallaght on the site where it all began in 1981 under Billy Browne of Avery Label. Today, the company is run by four directors, the owners John Browne and Donal Healy, along with Pat Tully and Gerard Molloy.

Previously focused on supplying the food and beverage markets, with a significant proportion of output for the chemical industry, Molloy was quick to spot market sectors that appreciated high quality work, and usefully offered better margins. Today, the company is well entrenched into supplying the pharmaceutical industry (with PS 9000 accreditation), and believes its capabilities are now better suited to its portfolio of customers. Pharma now accounts for around 50 percent of turnover, chemicals around 20 percent, food and beverage 15 percent, and what Molloy describes as ‘brand protection’ makes up the balance. This includes nano technology, holograms and the like.

“What the new Gallus gives us is flexibility. We’re currently running at around 90 meters/minute on combination flexo/screen jobs, and 150 to 180 meters/minute on eight-color flexo work—the run speed is controlled by the ability of the base material to perform. The short web path means that even on a 10-color press, we’re using only 40-45 meters of substrate between jobs before we’re back into commercial production,” said Molloy. He estimates the Gallus has reduced costs by up to 30 percent in certain cases, if time, materials and labor costs are all included, and with its fast change sleeve system and register control, it has removed bottlenecks on the shop floor and taken away some of the old ‘production excuses.’

Label Art was the first label converter in Ireland to install digital technology. This was back in 2005, when it installed a WS 4050 press. A WS 4500 was added in 2010. Intended to take over the production of shorter run work, which on the older flexo and letterpress machines were not cost effective, the digital presses now find themselves competing with the traditional flexo/screen technology of the new Gallus. “We are now switching much of our work back from digital to conventional because the speed and ease of make-ready on the Gallus EM S series makes it more competitive. It has moved the market beyond our existing digital capacity, so the challenge is now to decide where we go next,” added Molloy, explaining that the new press has allowed a more flexible approach to production at the company.

Describing the new skills required from press operatives as ‘less knob twirling and more button pushing’, Label Art claims the Gallus EM S is easy to learn and use. At the time of writing, the company’s operators were about to undergo their second Gallus training week, which would include the skills necessary to extend Label Art’s reach into the markets that use thin film substrates, for which the chill-roll equipped press is well suited. Currently producing around 60 percent of its labels on paper substrates, Label Art has its eyes on further success in the drinks market, where the Gallus EM 430 S can run top quality work at high speed, with good margins. Another market that has opened up is paint—where flexo’s new capacity for printing high quality vignettes, as well as the ability to lay a solid screen white, has given Molloy new ammunition.

So, what’s next on the table at Label Art? According to Gerard Molloy, more investment in servo driven press technology and a major rethink on where to go with digital. “We shall continue to focus on the quality end of the market and gear our investment in production towards the most efficient way to produce top quality,” he concluded.

About The Gallus Group
The Gallus Group is the world market leader in the development, production and sale of narrow-web, reel-fed presses designed for label manufacturers. Its folding carton business offers a range of wideweb, reel-fed presses and die-cutters for the cost-effective in-line production of folding cartons and cardboard products. The machine portfolio is augmented by a broad range of screen printing plates (Gallus Screeny), globally decentralized service operations, and a broad offer of printing accessories and replacement parts. The comprehensive portfolio also includes consulting services provided by label experts in all relevant printing and process engineering tasks. In 1999 Gallus entered into a cooperation agreement with Heidelberg, the world market leader for print and media industry solutions. Gallus employs around 580 people, of whom 270 are based in Switzerland. The group headquarters is in St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Source: The Gallus Group.