Coast Controls, Inc.

In an industry that has little time to waste, web guides are critical in determining how long job setups will take. And, with costs always on the minds of business owners, web guides can help keep waste to a minimum. Without these systems, a job can still be completed. But, the important questions is, “Do you want to finish it before the next guy, and at a lower cost?” Here’s how three converters learned to love web guiding systems. Look ma, no hands! Cardinal Health—a global company serving the health care industry with pre-packaged medical products—recently purchased a custom fill, form, and seal machine

The Web Handling Research Center studies the science and technology that drive web handling. WEB HANDLING IS a science every packaging printer or converter should understand. It's applied physics that carries a continuous-roll substrate through printing and/or converting machines with the goal being a defect-free end product. The Web Handling Research Center (WHRC), based at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla., has spent the last 20 years studying this science. The WHRC was initiated in 1986 as a National Science Foundation center with a mission "to advance the knowledge base in technologies applicable to the transport and control of continuous-strip materials through processes and

Proper web guiding, tension, and register control are basic ingredients needed for good print quality results. PRINT REGISTRATION IS one of the first things packagePRINTING's Excellence Awards judges inspect when assessing the print quality of contest entries. For our expert panel, it's an easy variable to assess, and is used as an initial culling point to "separate the men from the boys." Entries will not contend for a first-place finish if they are not produced with good print registration. This is clearly understood in the industry, but not everyone pays enough attention to some of the web-handling issues that directly impact registration, says Henry

These products and companies were the most sought-after in 2002 by packagePRINTING readers. Top 10: Prepress Equipment 1. Creo—PDF-based packaging workflow Prinergy Powerpack, copydot scanning systems, film imagers, and CtP devices 2. Agfa—Workflow and color management systems including the AgfaScan XY-15 Plus, Sherpa 43 Inkjet system, and Lithostar plates 3. Kodak Polychrome Graphics—Offers Digital and conventional plates, film, and proofing and color technologies including the Kodak Approval XP unit 4. BASF—Offers Nyloflex® and Nyloprint® equipment combinations for processing photopolymer flexo and letterpress plates and sleeves 5. MacDermid—Broad range of sheet, liquid, digital, and water-wash photopolymer plates, platemaking equipment, sleeves,

What products and companies were most sought-after in 2001 by packagePRINTING readers? Here's the scoop on the year's most-wanted technologies, ranked below based on responses to both editorial features and display advertising.*** TOP 10: Prepress Equipment 1. Anderson & Vreeland—Photopolymer plate processing systems, rubber plate molding presses, flexo platemaking materials, digital imaging systems and software 2. DuPont Cyrel—Photopolymer plate and prepress systems, including Cyrel FAST thermal technology 3. BASF—Nyloflex® and nyloprint® equipment combinations for processing flexo and letterpress plates and sleeves 4. MacDermid—Sheet, liquid, digital, and water-wash photopolymer plates, platemaking equipment, sleeves, and plate mounting systems for flexo printing 5. CreoScitex—PDF-based packaging

Are electronics the major factor in keeping webs in line? Or are other, more conventional options the answer? By Chris Bauer THE WORLD HAS gone digital. That statement has been beat to death, pushed down your throat, and probably gone in one ear and out the other countless numbers of times in the past few years, especially when it comes to printing equipment. Isn't there anything left that can be done without bits, bytes, or megs? Makes you wonder how we ever got anything accomplished before the "digital revolution." Simpler equipment designs still have a strong appeal. Many printing companies report experiencing difficulty in

Digital's descent on web guiding continues, but converters also see value in tried-and-true approaches. by Susan Friedman Digital this and digital that. In package printing equipment, it's nearly impossible to avoid. Web guiding technology is no exception, though many converters are just now beginning to buy into their digital story—one that has been told for several years. BST PRO MARK has produced digital signal controllers, complete with internal networking capabilities and a flexible module bus system, for more than 10 years. The company's web guide expertise also includes ultrasonics, infrared, and CCD camera sensors, as well as pneumatic edge and servo-controlled sensor positioning. From

A web guide technology overview confirms the progression of electronic controls, automation and custom approaches. By Susan Friedman Hardly an unfamiliar concept, web guides are often a taken-for-granted component of presses and converting lines. A closer look at this technology's latest developments can help converters squeeze further efficiencies from even the most intricately tailored press configurations. Web guides' longevity hasn't completely wiped out usage misconceptions. When Allen Rausch, application engineering manager for BST Pro Mark, Elmhurst, IL, is in the field, he often sees guide sensors positioned too far within the exit span of the guide frame. To work best, sensors should be in