PFFC - October 2007 - (Page 40)

WEB HANDLING Franklin Nice, president/CEO of Gintzler Graphics, [with Robert Strach, VP of manufacturing,] says his attitude changed about automatic splicing as his company started to use more costly substrates. “We needed to convert a full web width of fairly expensive material on our 16-inch press, the widest—and longest—press we have,” says Nice. “The material costs for this nine-color press were much greater than that of our smaller presses [8–11 in.]. There is over 100 feet of material in it from beginning to end. Most, if not all, of it is lost with every stop and must be edited out. It really started adding up when we began working with more costly substrates.” Operator Dave Zielinski makes an adjustment at the Martin LRD automatic transfer rewind on the Gallus EM 410 UV flexographic press. Gintzler press operators like the consistency of the machine-made splice. So, when considering the costs of materials, waste, and lost production time, the idea of automatic splicing began to grow in appeal. But which supplier would get the nod? Nice explains his criteria. “What we look for in a vendor is the same as what we feel we offer our customers: flexibility, capability, and a reputation for quality. We want somebody who is going to work with us not just as buyer-seller but will keep our best interests in mind. We want a consultative relationship.” “Consultative sales” is a term that is often heard and sometimes abused. Nice provides his own definition: “Basically, it’s a sales person who gets to know your business, who understands what you are trying to achieve, and makes recommendations that are sound—not just ones that boost his commission.” Solid Engineering is Key Additionally, with an eye toward maintaining the versatility and flexibility that had become the company’s calling card, Nice began to consider the complexity of manual roll splicing among Gintzler’s various substrates. “The other thing we do that is very important is shrink labeling. That material is very challenging to handle and the less you can stop the press, the better.” 40 | OCTOBER 2007 The first consideration was a reputation for quality. Nice polled industry acquaintances. “It started with a recommendation from one of our press manufacturers, who suggested talking to Martin Automatic, noting their reputation for solid engineering and reliability. I continued my research and was encouraged by engineers who work on our other production equipment—they held Martin’s engineering in very high regard. It’s pretty meaningful when one engineer says something good about another company’s engineering.” As for the Martin rep, “He did a great job getting to know us,” Nice says. “He made suggestions for options that he thought would help us. He also talked us out of some ideas that he didn’t think were so helpful. Basically, he got us off to a very good start.” WWW.PFFC-ONLINE.COM http://WWW.PFFC-ONLINE.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of PFFC - October 2007

PFFC - October 2007 Contents First Glance From the Editor Calendar of Events Web Lines Process Management Package Converting News Clips Narrow Web & Label Reporter Narrow Web & Label What’s New Products Bagmaking Slitting/Rewinding Digital Printing EB Flexo Web Handling Paperboard Packaging Security Packaging Business Transactions What’s New Products Focus: Unwinds & Rewinds Trade Show in Print Services Directory Classified Marketplace Equipment Buyers & Sellers Advertisers Index thePLACE Experience Speaks

PFFC - October 2007

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