Allison Systems Corp.

Flexographic Trade Services held its two-day Open House event at its facility here earlier this month, which included more than 20 table-top displays from many of the industry's leading suppliers, the majority of which have been vendor sponsors since the trade school was established in 2000.

Many of us have relayed the line, “it’s the little things,” in response to something we find funny or which made us feel good. It’s the same for your print jobs—“little things” play crucial roles. Critical components of flexographic or gravure print jobs are the anilox rolls or gravure cylinders and the doctoring systems that work to control the ink that lays upon the finished product. Properly installed and maintained doctoring systems also go a long way toward improving your bottom line, as they can directly impact whether or not your rolls or cylinders last as long as they should. “Eighty percent of all

CLEMSON, S.C.—The Foundation of the Flexographic Technology Association (FFTA) and Clemson University’s Department of Graphic Communications will present the fall installment of its Flexographic Process Color Printing Symposium, Sept. 26-28, 2007. This 2-1/2 day symposium is designed to teach the steps to optimize, characterize, measure and manage flexographic color printing in a production environment using the proven techniques of process control. Hands-on breakout sessions provide best practices for densitometers, spectrophotometers, documentation, and press side color evaluations as well as an introduction to profiling. Beginner to advanced production and management personnel, prepress, sales and customer service staff for printers and industry suppliers have all benefited

Anything in excess is never a good thing. Just like overdoing it by stuffing down that last bite of pie or filling your home with unnecessary material indulgences, printers can also overdo it with an excess amount of ink. Fortunately, this is where doctoring systems come in to save the day, and the printed material. But, like any piece of printing equipment, these systems are not problem-free. That is why converters need to be armed with the knowledge and skills necessary to make sure doctoring systems run properly and efficiently. Happy medium A doctoring blade can only do its job of wiping away excess

FUNDAMENTALS OF QUALITY PRINT ON CORRUGATED SYMPOSIUM Presented by FFTA & Clemson University February 21-23, 2007 Clemson University, Clemson SC This 2 1/2 day program provides participants with an in-depth overview of the elements of the printing system, examining board liners, anilox, doctor blades, inks and plate systems to demonstrate how they are integrated to produce enhanced graphics from clean solids and line work to halftones and even process color. Participants will develop a thorough understanding of controlling the combinations of press and pre-press possibilities to best suit their needs. The discussion will include tools and methods that any plant can implement to analyze

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

Much research and development has gone into the design of modern doctor blades and systems, and knowing what is needed is the most important factor in choosing the correct blade. AUTOMATION. SIMPLICITY. PARTNERSHIP. These three elements are important to the converter involved in any aspect of the printing process, and doctor blades are no exception. "Fundamentally, the job of the printing doctor blade has not changed over the years. A doctor blade must remove excess ink from the ink transfer process without causing other problems," said Paul Sharkey, president, FLXON Inc. "What has changed is that more and more printers realize the doctor blade

As always, companies exhibiting at CMM International 2005 put on a display of impressive new products and technologies for converters and package printers. A SUCCESSFUL TRADE show is always measured on an individual basis—foot traffic, promising leads, or signed contracts. While attendees weren't exactly carried down the aisles in a swell of people, CMM International 2005 still offered a wide array of new products and technologies from the exhibiting companies. The following is a small sampling of what CMM International had to offer. Company news Enercon and Ciba Specialty Chemicals announced a joint development agreement which will combine Enercon's surface modification Plasma3™ technology

While not a headline-catching subject, doctoring systems have a big impact on printing quality and overall production costs. ALTHOUGH NOT A particularly glamorous topic, package printers know that doctoring systems represent a complex challenge. The selection, operation, and maintenance of these systems can have a major impact on consistent print quality, along with longer term cost issues when it comes to roll maintenance and life. When selecting the right doctor blade for your application, there are any number of places to begin and approaches that can be taken. For starters, Perry Lichon, president of Retroflex, lists blade material composition, tip design, thickness, and

A review of the top issues concerning doctor blades. THE ARTISTRY OF doctoring the doctor blade is giving way to science. Tom Allison, president of Allison Systems (Riverside, N.J.), remembers when he used to ask his dad what the press operators were doing as he watched them prepare the doctor blade for printing. After hushing his son, Allison's father would say, "Pressmen are frustrated artists; each one has his own 'pallet' of special things he feels that he alone can do to make 'great art' come off the press." Where once true—when the performance of the doctor blade depended solely upon the operator's set-up—now