PFFC - March 2009 - (Page 54) TECHNICAL REPORT SEMI-ROTARY PRESSES The views and opinions expressed in Technical Reports are those of the author(s), not those of the editors of PFFC. Please address comments to the author(s). A Mixed Marriage The pairing of offset and semi-rotary web presses makes a persuasive combination for short runs. By Chris Davis, Matik North America the ink feed system of flexo the stable image carrier of offset… A development in the semi-rotary world has married to recent I n the evolution of print, there have been many discoveries, inventions, and improvements that have shaped the industry as we know it. There are a variety of processes from which to choose, depending on technology, substrate, economies of scale, quality of print, in-line efficiencies, format, consumables, and other reasons linked to the final printed product. The result is that many processes have gray areas where it can be challenging to answer the question: Which is the best way to print this job? What is clear is that each process has developed strongholds, and now these are being challenged by pricing pressures on production costs, logistics, raw materials, obtainable margins, and perceived quality. This means nonmainstream processes now are being accepted as platforms of high efficiencies for market sectors such as short-run labels, for example. One such technology is a semi-rotary (intermittent) web press. Semi-Rotary Press Developed in the 1970s, the semi-rotary process was used in the forms business and simplified label applications that used one cylinder size to capture many different repeats by using a web that shuttles backward and forward. An infeed and outfeed in tandem produce a festoon. The reverse stroke of the web creates difWWW.PFFC-ONLINE.COM 54 | MARCH 2009 http://WWW.PFFC-ONLINE.COM
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