PFFC - August 2008 - (Page 39)

FLEXO DIGITAL ith the price tag on a standard digital press approaching $750,000 without a finishing unit, many converters consider it an investment they simply can’t afford to make. However, one Westfield, MA, label converter found that it couldn’t afford not to buy one—or even two! Randy Duhaime, general manager of Dion Label Printing Inc., says that even with seven flexographic presses running two shifts at its 35,000-sq-ft facility, the company continually saw its efficiency hampered by the need to convert runs of fewer than 5,000 ft on presses designed for the long haul. Putting it mildly, he explains, “Taking three hours to set up a job that takes 20 minutes to run simply wasn’t advantageous to us.” So in April 2005, Dion installed its first HP ws4050 digital press. It prints seven colors on a wide range of substrates, including metallized papers and films, as well as pressure-sensitive and unsupported shrink-sleeve materials, at speeds to 50 fpm for four-color process work. Dion Label added a second ws4050 less than a year later, this one with a re-inserting option that allows the company to print two-sided sheets in perfect register. W Adding the short-run advantages of digital, says Hebert, “actually has spilled over to make our conventional environment more efficient and more productive. The conventional presses are spending more time producing labels and less These labels for Absorbine time on setup. The digital presses Hooflex are printed on allow Dion to continue to meet Dion’s flexo presses. customer demands for short runs that wouldn’t have been nearly as efficient if they were produced flexographically.” Yet, Duhaime says, run length isn’t the sole consideration when deciding whether jobs should be printed flexographically or digitally. The particular nuance of a digitally printed product—deadon register—sometimes makes Duhaime says that prior to installing it beneficial to forgo speed for quality, he the digital equipment, Dion Label met its says. Because both technologies have differcustomers’ short-run needs by running ent strengths and offer distinct advantages, multiple shifts on its high-speed flexo every new job is evaluated when it comes presses “and spending a lot on overtime through the door. just to get the work out the door. We “Initially it was touted as a short-run always made that happen, but the digital press,” Duhaime says of the HP, “but we press did make it easier. Some of those changed our thinking on that. Now, we jobs had a lot of color changes, as well as do some long runs digitally because of the die and plate changes, and we were only quality. And we’re honest with our cusdoing three jobs a day off our flexo press- tomers about that. Some of our customers es, even on short runs of 10,000 to 15,000 are willing to pay a bit of a premium to labels. We can get nine of the exact same keep it on the digital press for longer runs jobs off our digital presses.” to meet their exact standards. The option is open to them.” Digital Versus Flexo Hebert notes the HP digital presses rareCapacity Filled Up Fast Hebert says Dion Label never got caught ly are used for runs of more than 10,000 ft, Duhaime explains the need for a second up in the debate among label convertwith one rare exception: When a customer digital press quickly was apparent, since ers over “digital versus flexo,” preferring has long runs of multiple items—and any 90% of the work run on the first press instead to realize the advantage of “one number of those items are changed within had been moved over from its 10-in. and complementing the other.” She notes that the run. That would hardly be feasible with 13-in., eight-color Nilpeter and Propheteer companies offering only one of the two the cost and time necessary to create conflexographic presses—all of which perform technologies “badmouth each other,” ventional flexo plates. With digital, prodexactly as they were designed to perform. much the same way that converters who ucts can be changed “on the fly.” However, with even more orders comuse “only offset or only [ultraviolet] flexo Says Hebert, “We could do a 20,000ing in as current and potential customers always say their way is better.” foot run when there are 30 items, because learned of Dion’s newfound digital in the digital environment, you capabilities, he says the purchase of can queue up a second, third, and For this Porter’s a second press not only was justified product line, fourth item with no new set-up but required! charges and no new set-up time.” Dion Label uses “We were definitely able to go its HP digital after work that our existing cusNext Up: Flexo Investment presses. tomers had because we knew it Much in the way combination was better suited for digital, and presses changed the quality and efwe promote [our capabilities] that ficiency of the converting industry way,” says Duhaime. “We also got two decades ago, Duhaime believes new work, because when people converters using a combination of heard that we had digital, they flexo and digital presses will be best called us and said, ‘Do you think suited to meet the changing needs of the marketplace in the years to this would run on digital?’” come. “I think digital is going to “We’re adding new customers be an increasingly higher volume regularly,” adds graphics director Sue Hebert, “but some of our existing customers are excited about the digital environment because they feel they have more options with quicker turnaround, lower set-up costs, and no plate costs.” AUGUST 2008 | 39 WWW.PFFC-ONLINE.COM http://WWW.PFFC-ONLINE.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of PFFC - August 2008

PFFC - August 2008 Table of Contents First Glance Calendar of Events From the Editor Web Lines Process Management News Clips Carton & Box Reporter Carton & Box What’s New Products Narrow Web & Label Reporter Narrow Web & Label What’s New Products Cover - Show Preview - Labelexpo Labelexpo Floor Plan Conference Program Digital Printing Gravure Printing Bagmaking What’s New Products Services Directory Classified Marketplace Equipment Buyers & Sellers Advertisers Index Experience Speaks

PFFC - August 2008

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