Vying to Add Value

Narrow-web letterpress, screen, and gravure pressmakers and printers show off their specialties and gauge the competition.

by Susan Friedman

Letterpress: quality still rules

Letterpress hasn't lost its high-end lustre, but its marketshare may be vulnerable to claims of improved quality at less cost by other processes—particularly flexo.

"For years we've been rotary letterpress, and flexo has been 10 paces behind," says George Noah, V.P. at Lewis Label Products. "Now flexo is one pace behind, and nine out of 10 buyers can't tell the difference."

Noah estimates Lewis Label now prints 50 percent of its work with rotary letterpress—a level that was formerly as high as 65 percent. The decrease stems from both flexo inroads and financial return prospects. Noah points out that while a "Mercedes"-quality letterpress may cost more than a million dollars, a flexo press with UV and water-based capabilities that can handle much of the same work may cost half that amount.

Of course, Noah admits there are jobs for which letterpress is the hands-down choice, such as when line screens are 175 or higher. Pasty rotary letterpress inks also offer more consistency and bring quality levels up to that of offset and flatbed letterpress.

Flexo has tried to encroach on letterpress in the four-color area, confirms Chuck Notches, chief engineer at Sanki, with UV flexo creating hopes of a less expensive way to achieve four-color process. He believes printers have found letterpress is "still the way to go."

"Letterpress still gives better registration, and offers a shorter web path for less paper waste when problems arise," he contends, recommending a CI drum press design for simpler threading and registration, and faster clean-up.

Printers of pharmaceutical packaging, in particular, are coming back to letterpress, with others going from flexo to letterpress just to set themselves apart from their competition, Notches notes. "Customers are calling for quotes and stating that letterpress is a firm need, not just a fishing expedition."

Most letterpress sales are to customers who are already using Sanki presses, Notches reports. Special requests for add-on equipment to accommodate more complex converting processes are common, as is the purchase of Sanki's add-on modular flexo station for use as a coating station.

"The choice to print letterpress still has a lot to do with the ultimate quality of the label," elaborates Bob Yates, sales manager for Gallus. "Pharmaceutical labels remain primarily printed with letterpress because of their typically short runs, tight tolerances, difficult vignettes, and small copy that may print better with harder plates."

"If UV flexo is going to rival letterpress, it is imperative to have the highest quality UV flexo press—including rotary screen—available," he states.

Letterpress's ink keys make ink adjustments easier, Yates points out, and the process also offers more vignette to solid color flexibility: a vignette that can be done with one letterpress station may require two on a UV flexo press.

For Gallus, current sales rarely include straight letterpresses, Yates relates. The process is almost always accompanied by screen heads and hot foil stamping units, particularly due to the prime label market's demand for opacity on synthetics and clear films.

Yates ranks letterpress as ideal for short to medium runs, because new jobs can be set-up much faster than with UV flexo. With longer runs, UV flexo's additional set-up time may not be as critical, he adds, unless the label is extremely difficult to print.

Screen: the future looks solid

A few wolves—in the form of other processes—may be at the door, but screen printers' loyalty to their livelihood isn't fading.

"Many print technologies are still chasing that elusive phenomenon of screen printing—dense color and a rich look," says Steve Gilbertson, Midwest sales manager, Kammann Machines. To illustrate screen's solid following, Gilbertson estimates 50 percent to 60 percent of all glass or plastic containers worldwide are screen-printed, due to its better product resistance, deeper color, and consistent shelf appearance product to product.

The 2,500 screen printers based in North America—as well as those elsewhere—still seek reliability, speed, and consistent production in presses. Gilbertson says press configurations haven't changed a great deal, and neither have web widths, which favor narrower webs ranging from 10" to 40".

Cylinder presses are the ticket for thinner and more cost-efficient materials to be used at highest quality and consistency levels, he notes. The latest "news" from roll-to-roll suppliers is options—UV, IR, and hot air drying on the same press, and optional stations for flexo, hot stamping, and diecutting.

Gilbertson foresees continued growth for screen, with capacity being added to all forms of the industry, not just roll to roll. He sees many traditional sheet-fed decal companies moving into roll-to-roll, and many major Fortune 500 companies investing in screen printing for applications from compact discs to container decorating.

Thomas Kirtz, president of Telstar Engineering, says smaller health and beauty aid companies as well as generic brand packaging firms are adding screen to flexo in order to produce upgraded quality that is competitive with the packaging of larger companies. "We thought the market had been saturated," he comments, "but now we are seeing tremendous activity in terms of quotes for add-on screen equipment."

Spear first took on screen printing in the mid-'80s at the request of Procter & Gamble, who at the time sought a squeezable, pressure-sensitive clear film label for a plastic shampoo bottle.

"You really need screen to create the clear, no-label look," explains Dan Muenzer, marketing director. Echoing Gilbertson, he adds, "It lays down the most ink, providing opacity and vibrance. For other processes to achieve similar results, a white background must typically be printed."

The P&G work marked the beginning of a long and profitable friendship between printer and process. "Since 1985, every press we've invested in can print screen in some fashion," Muenzer says.

Though heaviest demand for screen first came from the personal care sector, the advent of combination printing—screen and process—has shifted the weight of Spear's customer base to premium beverage and food containers—particularly wine bottles. All of the top five wineries use screen-printed labels, Muenzer reports.

For these applications, screen's opacity and tactile, raised-ink effect has helped Spear achieve the label-less illusion, along with a vintage look.

When Coors' Original beer bottles changed from a paper label to a film label screen-printed by Spear, the beer exhibited its first increase in sales. Spear also helped Canandegua exceed sales projections for its Arbor Mist, a new type of wine targeted toward wine cooler drinkers. The screen- and letterpress-printed, frosted label was designed to look as if it were painted directly on the bottle.

Spear's acquired knowledge of screen over the years has helped it make the process more affordable for larger customers with longer runs, by running faster, at speeds to 250 fpm, and wider, to 20".

Gravure: the cost gap narrows

Chalk it up to gravure that Avery Dennison Decorating Technologies Division has graduated from printing basic labels for plastic containers to printing labels for glass containers. "It is through gravure that we are able to print layers and lacquers that allow the label to survive the rigors of glass fill lines," relates Alison Riley, marketing representative.

Gravure's well-known consistency, great photographic images, and speed for cost-effective long runs all figure into this work progression, but Avery Dennison also depends on gravure to offer its customers as many graphic design options as possible.

Gravure cylinders allow the opportunity to use a wide range of inks, including thermochromics and metallics, Riley explains, while the ink viscosity and laydown allows for more opacity.

A gravure label recently produced by Avery Dennison for E&J Gallo's Wild Vines wine provides a frosted, or etched glass look, along with a tactile, raised-ink effect which, Riley notes, was achieved with a proprietary new ink developed with Gotham Inks. Avery Dennison was also able to print the label as a vignette by working with its cylinder suppliers to modify how the cylinders were made.

Dick Chesnut, president of W.R. Chesnut Engineering, refers to gravure as "the combination process," because its solid results with water-based, solvent-based, UV, metallic, and other inks eliminate the need to tap into another printing process's advantages. Gravure's metallic ink capabilities cut costs by replacing the need for hot stamping, he explains.

Gravure can also print line and process work with the same fountain, he notes, while other processes must split them into separate fountains. Gravure's accommodation of line and process can reduce a 9-color job to a 5-color job.

From the perspective of Dieter Langendorf, president of BHS Printing Machinery, gravure's share of business continues to slide over to flexo, but within gravure printing narrow-web has shown "significant growth...because of the trend to ever-shorter run length."

Langendorf cites several factors making short runs a reality for narrow-web gravure, including cylinder sleeves, change trolleys, and on-press wash-up systems that reduce change-over times, along with new materials and technologies for reduced cylinder cost, and individual servo drive efficiencies.

The hottest press configurations in Langendorf's view are those offering in-line finishing—post-varnishing, cold seal application, and in-line lamination, all of which avoid unnecessary handling and additional production steps, and allow shorter delivery times. Chesnut sees press sales gathering steam around clear, pressure-sensitive prime label and OPP or PVC shrink label applications.

Future gravure efficiencies may come from image carrier developments, such as a plastic sleeve Chesnut has in the works. For now, Dick Chesnut emphasizes the positive dynamics of prepress, pointing out the cost of prepress for gravure may still be 25 percent more than flexo, but the financial gap between the two is narrowing as flexo prepress costs rise. He stresses most label jobs are printed six to 25 times, and with gravure there is no prepress cost after the first run.

Nilpeter now commonly supplies 7- or 8-color letterpress machines for 4-color process, plus the capacity for special colors and coating. With the flagship B3000 rotary letterpress, one or more screen units can be rail mounted above and behind the letterpress units, and can be moved and positioned anywhere along the press length.

Process options for the Gallus R 200 letterpress include rotary screen printing, rotary hot foil stamping, embossing, UV varnishing, and rotary and flatbed diecutting operated singly or in combination.

A mechanical ink metering unit for Sanki's UV letterpresses saves set-up time and helps reduce paper wastage and ink costs. A simple-to-operate digital readout provides precision ink settings, and the ink metering blade is segmented into eight sections for precision operation and control.

The Galaxie 2005 in-line, roll-to-roll screen press distributed by Ernst W. Dorn Co. now includes a 13" web width that offers a 25 percent gain in productivity at the same operation speeds, typically 1,500 iph to 5,000 iph. The press offers UV and IR drying units, and permits the addition of units for printing, hot foil stamping, diecutting, and laminating.

Chesnut Engineering's Model 150 gravure press enables quick job set-up and low waste with additional features including start-up register and an MIS system. The press also provides auto-splicing, high-performance drying, rotary diecutting, and in-line laminating.

Narrow-web rotogravure presses from BHS Printing Machinery incorporate individual drives on print decks, eliminating gear boxes and mechanical line shafts, and providing excellent access to print units. A label for E&J Gallo's Wild Vines wine, gravure printed by Avery Dennison Decorating Technologies, achieves a frosted, or etched glass look, along with a tactile feel.

The new Idea rotogravure press from Schiavi, a member of the Bobst Group, prints short runs profitably in web widths of 26" to 66" at speeds to 825 fpm. A patented, fully integrated and automatic washing system allows all inking groups and printing cylinders to be washed at the same time.

Many print technologies are still chasing that elusive phenomenon of screen printing—dense color and a rich look.