The July 2023 edition of the GravurExchange!
Your source for news and events!
Inside May’s GravurExchange:
- GAA Committee Chair’s Corner.
- Preview of Milwaukee R2R Gravure Track.
- Benefits of Automating Cylinder Cleaning by Patrick Potter of Flexo Wash
- Member Benefit Corner: R2R Registration discounts.
- Members supporting Roll-To-Roll Education and Training. Phoenix Challenge Foundation Teacher Training Workshop, and donate PET.
- Upcoming Events and other gravure-printing news
- EPA and Environmental News
Gravure AIMCAL Alliance Committee, Jim Garvey, the chair’s Corner!
Excitement is building for the R2R coming to Milwaukee!
As being new to the Association for Roll-to-Roll Converters (ARC) and the GAA (Printing) committee I am realizing how much ARC has to offer to its members. Looking over past members a large number who have dropped out are printer/converters. When I ask for reasons for not renewing, I hear budget reductions due to COVID, mergers, acquisitions, and retirements of those who participated. At the same time, I am told printer/converters are experiencing skill shortages from retirements.
I want to reach out to all who have not renewed letting you know, the GAA 2021 merger with ARC (AIMCAL) produced synergies with the GAA group bringing “Printers” and AIMCAL having “Converters” that were both suppliers/customers to each other. Now combined we are learning and growing with each other’s support.
The R2R USA venue is in Milwaukee, WI making it centrally located in the largest “Converting Corridor” in the U.S. to make it a driving destination. The R2R is a multi-track conference covering Flexible Packaging, Battery Manufacturing, Coating-Laminating, Adhesives, Web Handling, Gravure Printing/Coating and Sustainability. Go to: R2R USA Agenda (rolltoroll.org)
Again, I want to reach out to those Printer/Converters who need training and support to bring your new staff up to speed. The 2023 R2R is that opportunity where you can see how much more is available by being involved with ARC. Go to: 2023 R2R USA Conference (rolltoroll.org) and you will see the registration pricing is designed to give you the best “Value” to attend.
I encourage all GAA Committee members to reach out to all your industry friends and encourage them to attend the R2R. I am looking forward to meeting you all in Milwaukee.
Remember: The association exists only through the participation of its members and networking is the best way to stay current in the converting industry.
2023 R2R Technical Conference in Milwaukee on October 2-5th. Preview of the Printing Track!
Todd Luman of Interprint the “Gravure Printing Track” Coordinator for the 2023 R2R USA Conference, and the committee have recruited a terrific group of speakers.
Second Gravure Track Preview!
Color Communication Panel Discussion: The use of spectral data in prepress workflows to streamline the communication and visualization of color to Brand Owners and converters. Speakers Kim Haugh & Jasmine Hietpas of the Marketing Store, Richard Hayden of Sun Chemical and Mark Sanderson of CMA Company make up the panel which will be moderated by Scott Thompson of SGS.
2023 R2R USA Registration (rolltoroll.org)
If you have questions, please contact Todd Luman tluman@interprint.com or Tim Janes tjanes@rolltoroll.org
Automated Cylinder Cleaning: Here is the truth about cylinder cleaning.
Author: Patrick Potter, ppotter@flexowashus.com, President, Flexo Wash
Cleaning cylinders has traditionally been a dirty business and has long been a manual operation. Manual cleaning involves chiseling off dried ink and coatings from the ends and wiping down cylinders with solvents by hand. Whether this is a slow or a quick process, it is still a manual process performed by employees who are more and more valuable to your operation.
With all this effort, are your cylinders even clean enough? Not always.
Here is the truth about manually cleaning cylinders: It’s your time and money and with manual cleaning, both are increased.
While manual cleaning is relatively quick, it is inefficient and requires too much labor expense. There is also the matter of unnecessary cylinder damage, which will lead to poor print quality. Lastly, there are major safety concerns whenever manual cleaning and chemicals are involved.
If this sounds like your situation, the good news is that there is a way out. Let’s assess your situation and then we can focus on solutions.
Assess your pressroom:
- What does your pressroom or work area look like?
- Are your cylinders in good shape?
- Does your cleaning keep up with your production?
- Do you have dedicated employees responsible for cylinder maintenance?
- Do you have a daily cleaning maintenance routine?
And most importantly:
- Where is your process breaking down?
Downtime. Decreased production. Decreased labor force. Dirty cylinders. Inconsistent output. Low employee morale. Inability to keep up with production needs. There are solutions to all these pain points.
The Truth
Regarding your pressroom and your printing needs, let’s discuss the universal truth that all businesses either know already or need to know about the future:
Whatever CAN be automated WILL be automated.
Makes sense, right? Workers are harder to come by, but production needs to be maximized. Downtime is unacceptable and a huge liability. Businesses in the printing industry that formerly had full pressrooms of employees are a thing of the past. Automation is the future. Actually, automation is YOUR future.
Nobody can afford to waste the manpower, the valuable time or the poor output of manual cleaning anymore. The market is too competitive.
The advantage to automation is that it is constantly innovating. For converters, they can decide how much automation they want for their business, ranging from printing processes to cleaning processes. Depending on their points of pain and what level of production they need to achieve, the level of their automation is in their hands.
Another Truth:
Automation is easier than you think.
Did you know that you can clean your cylinders in just 5-20 minutes, depending on the solution?
Cleaning should not be the cause for your production to slow down. There are a variety of solutions from single to multiple cylinder cleaners that all can do the cleaning in 5-20 minutes.
Flexo Wash has two types of cylinder cleaners available:
- Single/double cylinder cleaning:
Optimal for cleaning of less than 60 cylinders per day - Multiple cylinder cleaning:
Used for cleaning of more than 60 cylinders per day
The fully-automatic Cylinder Cleaners are designed to deep clean and restore gravure cylinders. Based on liquid and high-pressure water, this quick and gentle cleaning process leaves the cylinders totally clean and ready for immediate use. Total cleaning time ranges from 10 to 20 minutes and is gentle enough to allow for daily cleaning without causing any wear and tear to the roll.
These Cylinder Cleaners work with environmentally-friendly cleaning liquids, which are specially made for the deep cleaning of cylinders with all types of ink. There is also an option to use your own solvent blend. The water from the high-pressure rinse is automatically led directly to the drain, then to a tank for re-use or to one of our water treatment units. The water consumption is only ten liters for each roll meter.
The FACTS about Cylinder Cleaners
- Proven technology
- Offers AGILITY with a fast-cleaning process; approximately 10-20 minutes
- Daily deep cleaning as often as you want
- No wear and tear on roll
- Works with Eco-friendly cleaning liquids
- Effective on all ink types
- Fully-automatic, closed-loop
- Option for rotating brushes for deep cleaning system; no labor involved directly with cleaning
Either system works with sustainable cleaning solutions which will work with all ink types.
These machines can be equipped with rotating brushes, which make it possible to clean gravure cylinders in the machine. The brushes ensure in-depth cleaning of the engraved parts of the cylinder thus leaving it completely clean on all surfaces. The machines can be equipped with rotating brushes for cleaning of gravure cylinder ends, where there is often a heavy build-up of ink, which is difficult to remove.
The hard rotating and oscillating brushes will remove all ink from the shaft and end of the cylinder, making the cylinder clean on all surfaces. The cylinder can then be taken to production, storage or re-chroming without any manual treatment.
Proper cleaning is vital for your business. Eliminating your points of pain will increase production, decrease downtime and improve employee morale.
How about this for your new Truth:
- Labor reallocation
- Supplies expense down
- Cells deep cleaned – process improvement
- No longer using solvents to clean
- Employee safety improved
- Strong return on investment
The key to proper cleaning of your gravure cylinders is automation, and as we have described above, it is the most effective and simple way to get your cylinders completely clean and ready for the press again.
Author: Patrick Potter ppotter@flexowashus.com
Ten years ago, Patrick joined his father Mike Potter and his brother Ryan Potter at Flexo Wash. As President, he has been involved in growing the company to nearly 1,300 installations in North America offering Leading Cleaning Solutions to their customers. A Louisville, Kentucky native and a graduate of Xavier University, Patrick is a board member of TLMI and is actively involved in the printing
industry. Patrick can be reached at 888-493-5396.
Member Benefit Corner:
Don't Miss Out on Exhibiting at the 2023 R2R USA Conference in Milwaukee, WI! Pricing increases on August 31!! Register Today!
Member Exhibit: $2,249 (includes 1 attendee + 10×10 Booth)
Member Attendee:
$799 per person (converter)
$999 per person (supplier)
Register two attendees and get the 3rd at no charge!
Applies to paid attendee registrations and with one payment!!!
Automatically applies online when completing registration with ONE PAYMENT.
Go to: https://www.rolltoroll.org/2023-r2r-usa-conference
ARC Members Benefits!
Want to learn about all the resources included with your membership?
Schedule a website walkthrough for you and your team. Learn how to create new personal profiles, access exclusive member resources, see how to get more involved, access training courses, and more! Contact Tim Janes to schedule your website walkthrough: tjanes@rolltoroll.org or +1 803-948-9469.
GravurExchange continues to report on “Members supporting Roll-To-Roll Education and Training.”
Association for Roll-to-Roll Converters (ARC) Members support Teacher Training:
The Phoenix Challenge Foundation (PCF) lead by Bettylyn Krafft Executive Director, on June 28th, 29th and 30th conducted 2-1/2 days of Flexo label printing training for 11 CTE (Graphic Communications) teachers from 9 High Schools and Career Technology Centers from 5 states. Stephen Gerhardt of CPCC an ARC member hosted the event and other ARC members participated as trainers. Josh Sigmon of Harper Corporation and Chris Walker of Southern Graphic System reviewed the Prepress specifics for the PC High School Challenge. The review presented the prepress elements the teachers should include in their lesson plans for their students who would enter the High School Challenge. Len Phillips of CCL-Label Charlotte trained the teachers on maintaining their Comco Cadets and MA 830 flexo printing presses. Reviewing lubrication and adjustments for the presses will help the teachers keep their presses running and printing as they use them to train students in fundamentals of Flexographic roll-to-roll printing. Other industry professionals from Anderson and Vreeland, Parks Printing and Tri-Blends provided training in plate making and press operation. The teacher group is updating High School Flexography Training manual, Tony Donato of the ARC Gravure Committee participated in the manual review providing information covering pressroom safety.
CCL-Label Charlotte donates substrate to Clemson University.
Evelyn Cruz Director of Production at CCL-Label Charlotte provided a list of surplus/drops 2ml PET of various widths to Tony Donato PCF Board Member, he communicated with local colleges and universities. Kenny Tucker the Lab Manager at the Sonoco Institute of Clemson University replied they could use the materials. Bobby Congdon Assistant Director of the Sonoco Institute at Clemson was very happy to receive the 6 pallets of 2ml PET substrate. Even though the PET needs to be slit and rewound, the added work is good experience for the students and provides a good lesson on how industry supports the education community.
If you have a story of a member supporting education and training programs, please send them to Tdonato@gaa.org Subject “GravurExchange”.
The Annual Technical Conference!
The 2023 R2R USA Conference & Expo
is going to Milwaukee (WI) October 2-5
https://www.rolltoroll.org/2023-r2r-usa-conference
Register TODAY!
Articles from July edition: Addressing PFAS in the Environment; Extension of Comment Period
EPA is extending the comment period for the advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM), “Addressing PFAS in the Environment.” The EPA published the ANPRM in the Federal Register on April 13, 2023, and the public comment period was scheduled to end on June 12, 2023. However, the EPA has received several requests for additional time to develop and submit comments on the ANPRM. In response to the request for additional time, the EPA is extending the comment period for an additional 60 days, through August 11, 2023. Comments must be received on or before August 11, 2023.
$50 Million Build to Scale (B2S) Program Funding Opportunity Launched to Support Innovators, Entrepreneurs, and Startups Through Regional Technology-Based Economic Development Strategies
The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) is now accepting applications for its $50 million Build to Scale (B2S) program to support projects that strengthen equitable ecosystems and increase access to capital for innovators, entrepreneurs, and startups. The program strengthens regional economies by supporting scalable startups, as well as helps communities and regions grow technology-driven businesses; create high-skill, high-wage jobs; and build the industries of the future. (Click here to apply)
The deadline to apply is 11:59 p.m. ET on July 28, 2023. Read more on the program
To download June SmallBiz@EPA issue go to: SmallBiz@EPA July 2023 (mailchi.mp)
And send your member news to be featured on the association website and Converting Quarterly website. Login and use our quick Member News Submission Form.
There will be multiple technical-presentation tracks plus keynote speakers. Topics to include: Web Handling, Coating & Laminating, Gravure (Printing), Sustainability, Vacuum Coating, and Breakthrough Markets (Printed Electronics/Battery). Presentations are 25 minutes w/ 5 minutes Q & A.
Converting Quarterly, the official technical journal of AIMCAL, is a great source of information and current news from members and the industry. Go to https://www.convertingquarterly.com/ to subscribe to the quarterly print magazine, the digital edition, the weekly CQ eNews…or all three. For all the news you may have missed, go to Archived News (aimcal.org)
If you are looking for new employees or are looking for employment, we encourage you to use the new resources on the ARC website: (Jobs: RolltoRoll.org). Members may post jobs at NO CHARGE. We invite you to see how easy it is to post jobs online today. To maximize your job posting, you should also post on the GAA website at Job Openings | Gravure Association of the Americas (gaa.org)
Go to the following link to: Meet the Team | Association for Roll-to-Roll Converters
Anyone interested in having their company become a member of this dynamic
association of companies that are promoting the Gravure Printing & Coating Process,
please go to: Member Benefits & Values | Association for Roll-to-Roll Converters
Questions? contact Tim Janes, Member Outreach Director: tjanes@rolltoroll.org
If you an idea or article for the GravurExchange
email them to Tony Donato at: tdonato@gaa.org
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Committee Details (rolltoroll.org)