AAA Press Int'l

Featured Products for the flexographic, narrow-web and package printing industries, including AAA Press, American Ultraviolet, EB

Featured Products for the flexographic, narrow-web and package printing industries, including AAA Press, Aetek UV, GEW, Grafix, IST America and XericWeb.

Featured Products for the the flexographic, narrow-web and package printing industries, including AAA Press, Grafix USA, DYMAX Corp., Air Motion Systems, Heidelberg, GEW, IST METZ, Aetek UV Systems, XericWeb Drying Systems and PRI Technologies.

The NorthEast Label Manufacturers Association (NELMA) will be holding its 6th Annual Expo and Networking Conference on Thursday, May 8th at the Bridgewater Marriott in Bridgewater, New Jersey. The event will run from 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. This event will feature an exhibit hall with key suppliers of products and services to the label printing industry. They will included such vendors as UPM-Raflatac, Technicote, 3M, FlexCon, Spinnaker Coating, Mark Andy, AquaFlex, Matik NA, PCS (Degrava), Siegewerk Ink, Alden & Ott, Sun Chemical, Wilson Mfg., Kocker & Beck, Tek Graphics, Anderson Vreeland, Anilox Roll Cleaning Systems, Quality Discount Press Parts, AAA Press Parts, Rotoflex,

Web handling is a broad category of products that can range from slitters/rewinders, web guides, register, tension controls, and web inspection. Web guiding and tension control are two factors that help converters control waste as well as the web’s “wobble” as it comes off the roll. In the case of tension control, sensor selection is a major factor. Using low-cost sensors that require constant recalibration is no longer acceptable to converters. Tension Control Issues Although some converters may be intimidated by the tension control concept, the waste reduction and improvement in product quality are more than worth the investment. “Tension control is perhaps

Like any other technology, drying equipment for package printing continues to evolve. The industry changes rapidly and suppliers must keep up. The increased speed involved with today’s printing presses, driven by market demand, is one example of how drying equipment must evolve to keep up with the presses on which it is installed. Some press manufacturers, like Aquaflex (see sidebar, next page), have chosen to design and build their own drying systems. Others use dryers manufactured by OEMs. Whichever route you choose to go when purchasing new drying equipment, there are a variety of considerations you need to keep in mind including UV vs.

Several factors contribute to long doctor blade life. Coatings, proper setting of the blade, and properly selecting a blade for your application/press will go a long way toward prolonging the life of the blade, as well as other press components such as anilox rolls. Considering the plethora of coatings and materials available to printers, blade selection today goes far beyond simply considering price. According to Perry Lichon, president of Retroflex, “While blade materials should be judged by their ability to doctor, they should also be judged for ease of handling, blade life, impact on roll wear, and overall cost.” According to Anthony Foley, vice

Flexo has long been crowned the fastest growing graphic arts application for UV technology, and experts say usage continues to climb across all press widths. On narrow-web presses in particular, UV curing systems have moved decisively into standard component territory. “Now it would be very rare for a [narrow-web] press not to have at least one UV [unit] … and most presses are all UV,” affirms John Mitchell, sales/product manager, UVTechnology. By contrast, UV ink usage remains more of a specialty than a must for mid- and wide-web flexo printers, but interest has reportedly been building in the past several years, particularly for mid-web

AAA PRESS INT'L Digital and analog video inspection systems. Write 735, Visit www.aaapress.com, AccuWeb Web Width Monitor System makes width measurements for both acquisition and process control. It uses no moving parts and can detect almost any web material. Write 736, www.accuweb.com Advanced Vision Technology (AVT) Offers process control and 100 percent quality assurance solutions on-press or on-rewinder, including register and pressure control solutions, inline color management, barcode verification solutions and job quality data management. Write 737, www.avt-inc.com BST PRO MARK Premius Digital system provides automatic inspection and identification of print defects and color variations, register control on flexo CI presses, and

AAA PRESS INT'L Praxair™ laser-engraved ceramic anilox rolls; tint sleeve kits. Write 604, Visit www.aaapress.com, ABSOLUTELY MICRO*CLEAN Micro*Clean use a unique plastic media to deep-clean anilox rolls. The well-proven method is used off-press in an enclosed blast cabinet. The media is cleaned and recycled for reduced costs/elimination of hazardous waste. Write 605, Visit www.microcleanintl.com ADVANCED CYLINDER REPAIR Recognized leader in "In Press" cylinder repair services. We serve the offset, web, and flexo industries with the most up-to-date repair technology available. Write 606 American Die Technology Anvil rolls and printing cylinders for narrow-web flexo equipment with web widths to 30˝. Write 607, Visit