Multi-Market Appeal

Mid-web presses buy printers a ticket into a wider arena of end-use markets, while enhancing existing capabilities.

by Jessica Millward, Associate Editor

THOUGH NOT THE ingenue of the press world it was a few years ago, the mid-web press still attracts its fair share of attention as a "new kid" of printing technology. Combining many of the best features of both narrow- and wide-web technology, the move to mid-web has expanded the product portfolios of several package printers.

Board beginnings

In the case of flexographic wide-web converter Plastic Packaging, Inc. (PPI), headquartered in Hickory, NC, the company's desire to enter the lightweight board business led to its first experiment with the mid-web format.

PPI Operations Manager Dan Chamley reports in looking for an entry point into that market, management realized it would be beneficial to employ a press that could run both new jobs in light board as well as bread-and-butter film work.

Between PPI's Hickory plant and its site in Forest City, NC, the company operates eight presses, ranging in web width from 45˝ to 64˝. Earlier this year, PPI invested in a nine-color, 26˝ Comco ProGlide MSP™ to handle both films and board stocks up to 18 pt.

In addition to handling different substrates, Chamley recalls, he had other demands of the new press. "I asked for treaters and the ability to facilitate lamination in-line … I also asked for the ability to run board, to be able to take stock back and re-register it after you've run nine colors, and run a tenth color with coating."

Chamley notes the transition to the mid-web mentality wasn't difficult: "The MSP fits right in with our quick changeover mentality." The primary challenge for PPI's operators was instead the shift to UV flexo printing. After an extended training period, however, PPI's confidence in running the new press multiplied, and the results thus far have been profitable for the company. Chamley predicts PPI will purchase two more mid-web Comco units within the next several years.

Print versatility

As a specialist in flexible packaging for food industry products (such as cheeses, pasta, snacks, and baked goods) since 1948, Milwaukee-based Kendall Packaging Corp. was familiar with narrow and mid-sized webs when it began looking for a new press. Kendall's VP/Marketing and Sales Stuart Zeisse comments, "Kendall's customers generally require finished web widths between 6˝ and 35˝."

In May of 2000, Kendall installed a 37˝ PCMC Vision II press in its Pittsburg, KS, plant, to expand capacity and improve upon its ability to operate according to customers' timetables. Zeisse appreciates the flexibility of greater web widths, observing, "Our wide- and mid-web presses allow us to run short, medium, and long run lengths efficiently by varying the widths of our master rolls."

Zeisse counts the fast makeready factor as another key attribute of the press, stating, "Mid-web sleeve technology … allows us to run all of our web widths with quick changeover and fantastic process print capabilities." Kendall plans a series of PCMC press purchases within the decade.

Finding the fit

When Rock-Tenn Co.'s Marshville, NC carton facility began its search for a new press in the late '90s, the entire gamut of printing technology was considered.

With experience in flexo, gravure, and offset printing, "Rock Tenn's decision was not automatic," states Marshville General Manager Bob Brennan. "As part of a recapitalization effort, the Marshville facility examined sheetfed offset, narrow-web, mid-web, and wide-web flexographic printing."

After deciding on flexography as the ideal match for the plant's capital requirements, Brennan says a mid-web unit was eventually determined to be the best fit for both existing and potential work. He continues, "A narrow-web market, traditionally, serves certain industries and production run lengths that were not part of Marshville's strategy." Brennan asserts the wide-web flexo press, it was decided, did not make sense for Marshville's business base.

In 1997, Rock-Tenn purchased a 32˝, eight-station Comco Mark III unit. Brennan attests, "The mid-web format offers the degree of printing control found in smaller-format flexo presses but with a layout wide enough to compete in a variety of markets." In an industry constantly striving to provide one-stop solutions, mid-web's versatility has proven to be a significant asset.

Pressing foward

BHS Printing Machinery has nurtured the short changeover time attribute in its mid-web flexographic presses. BHS gearless technology allows the printing of the repeat length in 0.1 mm increments without format gears. Additionally, the Flying Job Change feature enables job change on non-occupied print stations while the press is running. The company's recent installations include a nine-color, 28˝ UV flexo press for a U.S. board converter.

Auburn, WA-based printer Mohawk recently invested in an eight-color, 41˝ NOVOFLEX from Windmoeller & Hoelscher. This central impression press employs gearless direct drives for both anilox rolls and the plate cylinder. Available with eight or ten printing decks, the press is capable of speeds to 1,300 fpm.

The Flexpress 16 S from Fischer & Krecke employs a lightweight sleeve system designed to be maintained by one press operator. Computer-regulated servo-driven winders and tension controls make the press suitable for applications involving a wide range of substrates, including flexible packaging materials and board. The press features infinitely variable repeats and is available in web widths of 35˝ to 67˝.