Success With Rotary Screen Printing

Want the look? Want the feel? Converters tell packagePRINTING why rotary screen printing is the process of choice for producing stand-out labels and containers, despite its extra costs.

IN THE LAST few years, rotary screen printing has pretty much become a prerequisite for label converters looking to keep up with competitors and their own customers' requests. Its ability to produce a look, as well as a feel, not achievable with other printing processes has made rotary screen printing "almost a necessary evil," said Dan Plash, sales manager, Telstar Engineering.

"It's getting to the point that label printers are almost being forced into adding screen units to their presses because their customers are demanding it by name," he said. "The label buyers know exactly how they want the label to look and they know the difference between a really good flexo white and rotary screen white for the 'no-label' look."

That kind of stand-out result has promoted rotary screen printing to its current popularity, despite disadvantages like cost. In addition to the added expenses of screens and cylinders, screen printing uses three to five times more ink than flexo—all factors that need to be considered in the overall cost of the process.

"Screen printing is expensive," Plash said. "The initial cost of the equipment should not be the only consideration. The consumable costs, such as screen material, screen ink, and tooling, are items that can really cut into profit margins if not properly planned for. Also, depending on the application and ink deposit, your run speeds could very easily decrease."

That said, the process is not without advantages, Plash added. "Retrofitting a screen unit to an existing press can be achieved in as little as four hours," he said. "Most commonly, screen units are servo driven and run in follower mode to the press. This means we don't need to add drive shaft extensions and phase-shifting gear boxes. Simply bolt-on and plug-in. Another advantage is portability; screen units can be moved from one location to another, even if you don't have a newer interchange press or overhead rail system."

packagePRINTING recently spoke with five converters with rotary screen printing capabilities. Here, they share their experiences with the printing process that many say their company can no longer go without.

Star Label Products

Nearly five years ago, Star Label Products invested in four Stork screen units on a new 10-color 10-inch wide Mark Andy 4150 UV press. A main deciding factor for the expenditure was an under-served group of potential customers.

According to Shev Okumus, president of Star Label, "At the time, most of the converters doing rotary screen printing were large companies targeting large beverage and health and beauty manufacturers. We wanted to produce combination labels for the small to mid-size customer who needed a screen-printed or combination-printed primary label, but was too small for the larger label converter who was set up to do long runs for the major companies."

The money was well spent. Star Label increased its production of labels for the health and beauty market, and also attracted print jobs from the liquor market. In addition, the converter was able to put its services out for hire, producing jobs for label converters without combination printing capabilities.

The success spurred the purchase of more screen printing capabilities—a 12-color, 13-inch wide Mark Andy LP3000 press with five Stork screen units.

While it didn't take Star Label employees long to learn the process, there was a learning curve, Okumus said. "There was a learning curve in general for the combination printing aspect. We had to learn which inks worked well together and what types of foil to use for certain materials or if we were going to print on top of the foil," he said.

It was a little work for a lot of value to offer customers. Okumus said, "A label printed via rotary screen really stands out on the shelf. You end up with a label that has vibrant colors that seem to jump off the label, along with a tactile feel. It allows our customers to achieve the look of a silk-screened container without the cost of direct package decoration. You cannot achieve this with flexo printing."

McDowell Label

Brand owners want labels that make products pop off the shelf and sell. In 2000, McDowell Label purchased rotary screen printing equipment—a Gallus Screeny on a Gallus press and later a Stork Rotomesh unit on an MPS Systems press—to ensure it was capable of producing those labels.

The pay off was immediate. McDowell Label was able to add high-end cosmetic, beverage, and food business to their list of markets served.

But even though it's been four years since McDowell added rotary screen printing, it's been an on-going learning process, said Dave McDowell, company president. The basics took only a few months, he said, "However, it is a continuously evolving process."

And that's without having to learn the UV printing process. McDowell said, "Rotary screen is a UV process and we were already using UV inks. UV ink alone has a learning curve. Someone going directly from water-based ink into UV screen will have a much greater learning curve. Using both water ink and UV on the same job is not something easily achieved, therefore you should have an all UV press to enter into this process."

While the benefits of the process have been many, there are several factors to consider before purchasing rotary screen units, McDowell said. "[ROI] will depend on how you price and sell this new capability. Inks are more costly and you use a lot more of it. Screens are costly and as a rule your press speeds are slower than flexo. If you are not already equipped with all UV curing on your press, this too will be an expense to factor into your ROI. You cannot price screen down-and-dirty and expect to achieve any type of ROI," he said.

AGI Klearfold

Four years ago, AGI/Klearfold purchased Stork rotary screen units to use on its inline UV flexo press. The result: more markets to serve. "It has enabled us to offer products to our high-end customers that demand the look of silk-screen inks," said Dan Reilly, printing manager of AGI/Klearfold. "It also enables us to produce packaging in conjunction with the flexo process that otherwise would not be possible or nearly as successful. It also runs much faster than a flat screen press with comparable quality."

Rotary screen printing has also increased AGI/Klearfold's flexibility in building graphics on its clear plastic rigid folding cartons. Plus, the printing process has enabled the converter to offer tactile finishes, avoid fine reverse type out of heavy flexo printed colors, and registration issues where shapes or type may be reversed out of multiple colors.

That said, the process comes with a few obstacles that need to be overcome, Reilly said. Learning the skills and technique to make screens takes longer than learning to run the equipment. And, Reilly added, "Learning to recognize problems and their cause takes some time. Ink formulation adjusted to a specific process and substrate will take some R&D effort, but ink companies have come a long way in the last few years regarding this process."

No matter the expenses and steady learning curve, AGI/Klearfold has profited from the addition of rotary screen printing. "The return we realized in new business has made rotary screen indispensable to a high percentage of our product line," Reilly said. "Once we had the units, we wondered how we ever did without them. It is one of those things that once the technology is available, we found ways to design around and utilize it in sometimes unexpected ways."

Interstate Packaging

Interstate Packaging has five Stork rotary screen printing heads on its Arpeco presses, the first of which was purchased six years ago and the most recent three months ago. The addition of rotary screen printing capabilities gave Interstate the ability to attract more customers in markets it already served, like health and beauty and personal care. Furthermore, it opened new opportunities for Interstate to supply labels to new markets.

But, while business was ready to grow, Interstate press operators were busy learning to use the rotary screen units and prepress employees were learning to make screens—two different learning curves, said Karl Kendrick, plant manager.

"Operators learned to use the unit relatively quickly, maybe a month or so," he said. "There was more of a learning curve for prepress. Learning to make screens took several months, about three to four months. And there's definitely a learning curve for knowing what inks and ink coatings work together—those are lingering issues that we dealt with six months to a year down the road after training."

With each rotary screen unit Interstate added, however, the learning process has gotten faster. "Now, it takes two days to install a unit, and we are up and running the next day."

Interstate's overall rotary screen printing experience has had a significant impact on Kendrick. "We will not buy another narrow-web press unless it has rotary screen capability. It's the way the market is going—you need that flexibility to stay competitive."

West Coast Labels

West Coast Labels has been in business for more than 33 years, but some exciting changes have recently been made to its print quality. For the last seven years, West Coast Labels has been producing high-quality end results for its high-end customers with the addition of four Stork rotary screen printing units on one Nilpeter press, and three units on another Nilpeter press. It took West Coast Labels employees about three months to learn the combination printing process, but the screen-making process took more time and money than the company had figured, said Sam Scaffide, president of the company.

In addition, West Coast Labels had to go through several different ink companies to find the best ink for their purposes. There were also myriad small things to learn, like maintaining a consistent temperature in the shop to ensure the ink stays viable and productive.

However, the converter was taking advantage of the printing process' many attributes soon after the training period. West Coast Labels even created a coating with the new equipment called Velva-Touch. When used in combination with rotary screen printing, Velva-Touch gives consumers a container with not only a pleasing visual, but also a nice feel, Scaffide said.

The hurdles were limited and proof of the process' results have been in the profits ever since, Scaffide said.

"The set up is slow on it," he said. "Screens cost around $500 and you have to keep buying cylinders, which are about $1,500 each and we go through a cylinder about every 10-15 screens. It becomes very expensive, but it's well worth it. The quality's worth it, the outcome of the product is worth it—that's why we've stuck with it and why we are going to stick with it."

By Kate Sharon

Associate Editor