The Latest News | Gravure AIMCAL Alliance

GravurExchange Newsletter – August 2023

August 24, 2023

The August 2023 edition of the GravurExchange!

Your source for news and events!

Inside August’s GravurExchange:

GAA Committee Chair’s Corner.
Basic and Advanced Gravure Seminar returning in 2024.
Preview of the Printing Track at the 2023 R2R.
Inks for Li-Ion battery anodes printed by rotogravure: Center for Printing and Coating Research, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI
Member Benefit Corner: R2R Registration discounts.
EPA and Environmental News
Upcoming Events and other gravure-printing news

Gravure AIMCAL Alliance Committee, Jim Garvey, the chair’s Corner!

The ARC R2R 2023 USA Confeeence was intentionally located in a “Converting Corridor” to provide the printers and converters a drivable venue. There are also a few exiciting offers to encourage participation and education with these companies being offered a 20% Off discount Code: GETINVOLVED20. In addition, with the registration of two employees all organizations will receive third employee registration at no charge when done on a single payment. The agenda was crafted to provide training and other valuable information that is directly applicable to the converters.

The conference starts off with Introduction to Converting Fundamentals Course with industry experts. The technical sessions are presented in a multi track format, including VIP Keynotes, panel discussions, networking activities, and a large exhibit floor. 7 tracks with 95 speakers covering: Battery Energy, Coating and Laminating, Flexible Packaging, Printing, Sustainability, Vacuum and Web Handling. Visit the R2R USA Page to learn more and register: https://www.rolltoroll.org/2023-r2r-usa-conference

Planning has started for the return of the Basic and Advanced Gravure Seminars. They will be hosted by Interprint in Pittsfield, MA.

The pre-pandemic seminars hosted by Interprint were well attended and provided direct hands-on detailed gravure operation training. Interprint’s facility is the ideal location with its pilot press and cylinder engraving department. Todd Luman of Interprint and Tim Janes the ARC Member Outreach Director are coordinating to set a date in 2024 for the Seminars. Information will be provided when available so those seeking training can start the budgetary planning.

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.

Third Gravure Track Preview!

Update on Alternative Cylinder Surfaces. As the market pressure increases for shorter press runs, quicker project starts and continuing price increases of steel bases, gravure printers are being squeezed. Two of the leading alternative cylinder surface systems developers will provide the latest from beta sites as non-metal surfaces that do not need to be chrome plated are becoming a reality. The ultimate goal of the Kaspar Graphic Solutions “Helio-Pearl” and the Rossini “Eco-Grav System” is to provide a complete cylinder coating system that will allow the gravure packaging printers to be able to engrave cylinders in-house. Without the need that requires a surface coating like chrome, the new systems will not have the regulatory burden that comes with a chrome plating tank. The two back-to-back presentations are a must for those looking to bring cylinder engraving in-house. Go to: 2023 R2R USA Registration (rolltoroll.org)

If you have questions, please contact Todd Luman tluman@interprint.com or Tim Janes tjanes@rolltoroll.org

GravurExchange process support article of the month: PGSF Grant Supports Western Michigan Research with donation of RK-Proofer (fig 1):

Originally, published in Journal of Print Media Technology Research. Res: Pekarovicova A., Matthew K., Vicco J., Fleming P.D. Li-Ion battery anodes printed by rotogravure, Journal of Print Media Technology. Res., Vol 12, No 1, 2023.

The article was edited for publishing in the GravurExchange.

Inks for Li-Ion battery anodes printed by rotogravure

Alexandra Pekarovicova, Kevin Matthew, Jorge Vicco Mateo, Kholoud Al-Ajlouni and Paul D. Fleming

Center for Printing and Coating Research,

Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI

Corresponding author: Alexandra Pekarovicova, Chemical and Paper Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Science, Western Michigan University, 4601 Campus Drive, A-217 Floyd Hall
Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5462; E-mail: a.pekarovicova@wmich.edu

Abstract

Inks for Li-ion battery anodes were formulated for printing with the rotogravure printing process. Graphite powders with different particle sizes were used as conductive materials along with nanoparticle carbon black fillers. As polymer binders, polyvinylidenefluoride PVDF (commercial names Kureha 9100 and Kureha 9300) and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) were tested. Inks were printed using proprietary gravure engraving. Ink solid content of 30-70% was examined. At 70% solids, ink layers were 25-27 µm thick with mass loading of 2.1-2.5 mg/cm². A solids content found of 50% was the highest that produced a smooth uniform film. Half cells were made using print with 1000 µm holes or they were bar coated. Half cells were charged and discharged in order to measure irreversible capacity loss (ICL). Inks with mixed binders Kureha/PVP were performing better than sole polymers. Half- cell testing revealed that PVP as a sole binder has not good electrical performance, thus it was mixed with PVDF. The ICL was lower when mixed PVDF/PVP binder was employed in anode ink.

Keywords: printed batteries, anodes, rotogravure, ink formulation, half-cell, capacity, irreversible capacity loss

Introduction and Background

Due to the increasing impact of oil pollution on the environment (CO₂ production and liquid spills), more automobile and many other industries have turned to electric item manufacturing. Therefore, the production of more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly batteries has become a hot topic at the moment. The traditional lead-acid battery is bulky and heavy, but the printing processes can produce much thinner and lighter batteries to provide power for wearable devices, flexible displays, and smart labels among others (Costa, et al., 2020; Khan et al., 2015). With the advent of printed electronics, flexible batteries have undergone rapid development in the past ten years. The use of printing processes in battery manufacturing can lead to mass production of flexible batteries (Arduini, 2016). Printing can produce flexible batteries with different design patterns, and their multilayer printing stack can shape the geometry and structure of the battery and improve its electrochemical performance. There are usually two types of the printed structures of printed batteries, such as stack or sandwich architecture and the coplanar or parallel architecture. Components used are anode, separator, electrolyte, cathode, and current collectors deposited on the flexible substrate (Lanceros, 2018). Most of the batteries are manufactured in a stacked structure (Willert et al., 2018), while some are made in a coplanar configuration (Kim et al., 2015). The advantage of coplanar configuration is that it, among other manufacturing processes, can be made using the screen-printing process and the total thickness of the battery can be reduced to 0.5 mm. Its disadvantage is that its discharge current and area ratio charge density is lower, and it has a higher internal resistance.

Currently, many researchers are focusing on screen printing of battery electrodes. This printing technology can use high viscosity inks for printing, which allows them to have good coverage on different materials, such as copper foil (Vicco, 2021), or plastic (Zhao and Wu, 2019), which are suitable for printing lithium -ion battery electrodes (Khan et al., 2015). Based on the size required to print battery electrodes, the amounts of active materials, the roughness of the electrode layer, and the thickness of each layer of the battery can be modified. There have been many studies using printing methods such as gravure printing, flexographic printing, screen printing, extrusion printing, and inkjet printing to explore battery electrode production (Søndergaard et al., 2013, Huebner, 2015) as well as attempts to print electrolyte (Huebner, 2022). Lithium metal powder-based inks, which contain lithium metal powder, polymer binders, and other conductive materials can be used in anode printing. In general, the advantages of printed batteries are based on mature printing technology, and the fact that they are light, flexible, low cost, can be mass-produced, customizable, and more environmentally friendly.

Research in the printed batteries based on gravure printing showed that the quality of the gravure printing layer mainly depends on several physical parameters such as ink, substrate, and process. To enable the mass production of batteries through gravure printing, the study was done using carbon coated Zn_0.9Fe_0.1O (encapsulated in a thin film of carbon) as a reference alloying material (Bresser et al., 2013). With the water based electrode inks, 2-propanol can be used as a cosolvent to reduce the excessive surface tension of water-based inks in combination with corona pretreatment of the substrate for increased surface energy and thus ink adhesion (Biscay et al., 2011). Using the gravure printing process, multiple layers can be deposited, and the multilayer method applied is able to obtain the required mass loading (about 1.7 mg cm^-2) to achieve high homogeneity of the gravure printing layer, and its highly reproducible electrochemical performance up to 400 life cycles (Montanino et al., 2021).

Printing inks for anode and cathode inks contain active materials, such as graphite, graphene, and active fillers such as nanocarbons, and resins or binders, which are selected based on ink chemistry whether ink is solvent, or water based. Graphene can be doped by ball milling technique, and can be combined with silicon, silicon oxide, iron oxide for improved performance (Yu et al., 2022). Resins can include litiated polyacrylic acid, or polyvinylidene fluoride of different degrees of polymerization. The advantage of printing batteries is that layers of variable thickness can be produced. Printed layers are flexible, and they can be integrated into various substrates and devices. Printing technologies make it possible to easily scale up the products (Costa et al, 2020). Printed layers should be thick, preferably up to 100 µm and therefore screen-printing is the process of choice (Rassek et al., 2019). There was not much information found specifically in gravure printing of anodes and cathodes, which calls for need to explore gravure process for printing these features for batteries. In this work, the aim was to formulate rotogravure printing inks for anodes and evaluate their printability in terms of print uniformity, thickness of the layers and ultimately, half-cell battery performance.

Materials and Methods

The substrate for anode Li ion battery printing was copper foil from MTI Co., with caliper of 9 µm. Its surface roughness was 0.32 µm as measured by Bruker white light interferometry. Sheet resistivity of Cu foil was measured using SRM-232 sheet resistance meter with four-point probe and it was 0.0018 Ω/sq. Surface energy of copper foil was measured via contact angle with water: 87.2 ± 1.3 ° and hexadecane: 3.3 ± 0.1 °, as well as surface tension of water via pendant drop measurement: 71.1 ± 0.6 mN/m; surface tension of hexadecane via pendant drop measurement: 24.5 ± 0.3 mN/m. These values were plugged into the Owens –Wendt equation and surface energy of copper was estimated to be 26.5 ± 0.7 mN/m.

A Thinky Mixer AR 100 (THINKY Co., Tokyo Japan) was employed for mixing the inks. As the conductive graphite powders, Philips 5 µm, 10 µm, 15 µm (Philips 66, Houston, Texas) and Mage 3 graphite (Hitachi Chemical, Sakuragawa, Japan), and conductive nanoparticle carbon black filler (CB 4400 or C45) with particle size of 20 nm were used. Polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF) from Sigma Aldrich with different degrees of polymerization and commercial names Kureha 9100, Kureha 9300 (Kureha Co., Japan) with molecular weights of 2.8×10⁵ to 1×10⁶was dissolved in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) solvent and used as the vehicle. In some inks, a polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) with molecular weight of 10000 or polyvinylpyrrolidone/polyvinylidene fluoride mix of binders (PVP/PVDF) was employed. Rheology of finished inks was evaluated on an Anton Paar MRC302 rheometer.

Printing was done on Cu foil using a gravure RK gravure K-proofer (Figure 1), which uses a flat plate as an image carrier. The gravure plate for the RK gravure K-proofer was engraved by WRE /ColorTech (Greensboro, NC, USA) with proprietary engraving at 75 LPI. A plate was engraved with 1000, 500, 250 and 125 µm circular hole shaped nonimage areas. Detail of 500 µm nonimage area is shown in Figure 2 and white light interferometry detail is shown at Figure 3, showing depth of cells at 75 µm and the cell opening in one direction of the 1000 µm designed hole was measured at 1194 µm. Engraving was done by hybrid process of laser ablation and chemical etching. Such holes in the printed image improve the battery performance at high C rates and reduce Lithium dendrites that collect on the electrodes (Emani, et al., 2022, Palaniappan, et al., 2022).

The profile of the plate and ink films was prepared on a Bruker white light interferometry instrument. Image analysis of printed ink films was done using Pax it 2 software.

In order to test irreversible capacity loss of anodes, half coin cells were constructed (Figure 4) in a glove box to avoid moisture and oxygen damage. A half-cell contains a conductive electrode, conductive electrolyte and a current collector. Reversible/irreversible capacity and stability of the electrode can be obtained from the galvanostatic cycling technique (Figure 5). The galvanostatic cycling technique provides information about reversible/irreversible capacity and stability of the electrode.

Results and Discussion

Anodes for Li Ion battery electrodes were printed with long chain polyvinylidene fluoride polymer inks. As active materials graphite powders of different particle sizes were employed. Graphite powders are deemed to be efficient and economical conductive materials; thus, they were considered very suitable for this work. At this stage, particle size of the graphite powders 5-22 µm was assessed, thus only the graphite part of the ink formulation was changed, and the rest of the formulation was held the same (Table 1). Solid content of all four inks was kept at 50%, because higher solid content could not be printed uniformly on the designed structure of gravure plate. As a binder, Kureha 9300 polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) was used and as a solvent, N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP) was employed. PVDF is a highly non-reactive thermoplastic fluoropolymer. It is a special polymer used in applications requiring the highest purity as well as resistance to solvents, acids, and hydrocarbons with excellent mechanical properties. It was selected because it is a known binder for carbon electrodes in supercapacitors and other electrochemical applications. NMP was selected as a solvent for this system because of his high chemical and thermal stability, and compatibility with many solvents such as alcohols, ketones, chlorinated and fluorinated hydrocarbons.

Table 1: Gravure Anode Ink Formulation

Formulated inks were tested for their rheological properties (Figure 6 and 7). Viscosity of polymer suspensions usually increases with increased degree of polymerization, and higher solids content. At certain composition, its viscosity is reduced by increasing the applied shear rate, because the bonds between the polymer chains are broken (Triantafillopoulos, 1988). Tendency of ink to lose viscosity when stirred is called pseudoplasticity. This property favors the ink in the moment of printing because it flows more easily. When the stress or shear rate is decreased, the viscosity of polymer suspensions or inks is regained, e. g. when ink is printed its viscosity increases again, which helps the ink to set on the substrate and create required print features. Not all inks set at the same speed. The speed at which the structure is restored is called thixotropy. Figure 7 shows that all the tested inks after increased shear drastically decreased in viscosity, but after returning to the original shear rate, the viscosity is regained, which shows that all of those inks display thixotropic behavior. The highest viscosity was found for ink with Philips 5 µm, while the inks with Mage 3 and Philips 15 µm had the lowest viscosity. Pseudoplastic behavior of the inks was confirmed in regime of shear rate of 0.1-200/s for the flow curve. All of inks were shear thinning (Figure 6).

All of these inks were printed on an RK gravure K-proofer (Figure 1), and these experiments showed that ink containing graphite powder with 5 µm particle size exhibited the best print quality. The reason may be that the 5 µm graphite particle size could deposit the ink film with lowest primary porosity and the best ink film integrity. Also, 5 µm particle size of graphite probably enables easiest ink release from gravure image carrier. Overall, all applied PVDF inks seem to have too high viscosity for rotogravure printing process. Therefore, we wanted to experiment with lower ink viscosity, for which a new resin polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) at 10,000 molecular weight was tested to disperse graphite and nanocarbon active materials. Inks with 30-72% solids were formulated with graphite from Philips (P5) with size of 5 microns, and conductive filler CB 4400 with the ratio of ingredients: Philips P5/CB 4400/PVP (80:5:15). As a solvent, ethanol or NMP were used. Ethanol was evaporating too fast, thus N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) was chosen as a more suitable solvent. The average surface tension of NMP ink with 70% solids was 39.4 mN/m and average contact angle with copper surface was 40.8 ° (data not shown). At 70% solids, ink layers were 25-27 µm thick with mass loading of 2.1-2.5 mg/cm² (data not shown). PVP inks showed excellent dispersing characteristics and improved print quality when compared with PVDF ink prints. Printed inks with PVP resin are shown at the top part of the Figure 8. Gravure prints with N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) as a solvent were easier to work with than using inks with water or ethanol as a solvent. Designed circular holes with diameter 1000 µm were resulting in printed circles 846± 20 µm in diameter, while 500 µm circular holes were printed with 219±11 µm diameter, smaller than those shown in Figure 3 (Figure 8 Top, Right and Left). Primary porosity of printed electrodes mostly depends on different particle size of active material, in our case graphite of different particle size 5-15 µm. Designed circular holes, or nonimage areas are responsible for secondary porosity. Precisely controlled porous architecture of electrodes is necessary for fast charging cells. Fast charging requires electrodes with high porosity and low tortuosity enabling fast electrolyte transport and at the same time prevent lithium plating (Mijailovic et al., 2021). Thus, circular holes, or non-image areas were designed on printed electrodes with the aim to create so called secondary porosity. Secondary porosity was found useful in suppressing Li dendrites formation in graphite electrodes at fast charging rates (see also Emani, et al., 2022, Palaniappan, et al., 2022).

Printed ink films on copper foil were used to construct half coin cells according to Figure 4. Half cells were used to assess reversible/irreversible capacity and stability of printed anodes. Irreversible capacity loss of half coin cells made with PVP inks was too high and half cells did not have sufficient electrical performance. Thus, in the next step PVP was mixed with PVDF – Kureha 9100 or Kureha 9300 and half cells were made again. The first attempts showed that mixing Kureha and PVP resins is possible, so far 2:1 ratio was tested, and inks exhibited uniform prints. Their performance in terms of irreversible capacity loss (ICL) was tested again (Figure 9). Inks were bar coated, not gravure printed to ensure higher thickness of layers than what was possible to achieve with gravure printing. Figure 9 should be compared with Figure 5.

From Figures 10 and 11, it can be seen that performance of mixed PVP/PVDF inks was greatly improved compared to PVP or PVDF alone, and mixed PVP/PVDF achieved actually better performance and suffered from less ICL than inks made with sole Kureha 9100 or 9300. PVP is known to have excellent dispersing properties. The macromolecule of PVP contains strong polar lactam hydrophilic groups and C-C long-chain lipophilic groups, which can be well compatible with a variety of solvents and can be coated on the surface of particles to form a good dispersion effect through steric hindrance. Introducing PVP, a polymer with an amphiphilic structure, onto the surface of graphite can significantly improve the dispersion properties of graphite in water, or organic solvents. Therefore, PVP can be used as dispersant for Li-Ion battery electrode inks and other conductive materials (Viaenne,2016; Annon, 2022). This is most likely the reason that PVP enhances the electrical performance of printed anodes in mixed PVP/PVDF inks. PVP with molecular weight around 10,000 creates low viscosity dispersions, which can be suitable for gravure printing, but as a sole binder it does not have sufficient mechanical properties needed for battery architecture. PVDF has large molecular weight (500,000-1,000,000) and its macromolecules create highly viscous dispersions, suited better for screen printing than for gravure printing.

Besides optimized viscosity, mechanical and dispersing properties, mixed PVP/PVDF suspensions exhibit intermolecular forces, beneficial for improved electrical performance. When the two binders PVP and PVDF (Figure 12) were mixed at the ratio 4:1 (PVP: PVDF) and allowed to stand for 0-24 hours, obvious darkening of color was observed in the mixtures. FTIR was performed on the mixtures to understand what may be contributing to color change and change in ink electrical performance. Binders were dried and ground, and FTIR was performed at 500 to 4000cm^-1(Figure 13). The FTIR spectrum showed broadening of O-H groups at 3434 cm^-1, and 3426 cm^-1which could occur due to stretching of O-H bonds. Stretching of C-H groups at 3000cm^-1 and C=O group at 1652 cm^-1was also observed, which strongly suggests the formation of hydrogen bonds between C=O groups of PVP and methylene groups of PVDF (Figure 12), which could lead to improved electrical performance of printed anodes. Similar behavior was found for PVDF Kureha 9100 and Kureha 9300 in the mixture with PVP.

Conclusions

Gravure inks for battery anodes were formulated and printed on a laboratory K-proofer with proprietary engraving. It was found that polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) inks showed good printability, but poor battery performance. Using mixed PVP/PVDF 9300 or PVP/PVDF 9100 binder combination could effectively improve battery performance without significantly sacrificing the printability. From several graphites having particle sizes between 5 to 15 µm, graphite with 5 µm particle size was the most suitable for gravure printing. Polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF) inks under commercial name Kureha 9100 or 9300 with N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) solvent showed best specific capacity during three charging/discharging cycles, and irreversible capacity loss was even lower when these PVDF polymers were mixed with polyvinylpyrrolidone. FTIR study showed that methylene group (-C-H₂) and carbonyl groups (C=O) demonstrated lower transmittance and O-H groups showed stretching. This clearly suggests the formation of hydrogen bonds. Hence, the hydrogen bonds formed between the methylene groups and carbonyl groups could be a contributing factor to the reduction of irreversible capacity loss (ICL) in mixed binder printed anodes.

Acknowledgement

This work was made possible by funding through DOE Advanced Manufacturing Office (DE-EE0009111) by Wu Q. et al: Enabling Advanced Electrode Architecture through Printing and Pekarovicova A.: GEF-PGSF Gravure Day 2021 grant. Authors thank PGSF for donating gravure RK-proofer.

To be able to review all the References download PDF at: jpmtr_12(2023)1_web_2224.pdf

If you have a story of a member supporting education and training programs, please send them to Tdonato@gaa.org Subject “GravurExchange”.

Member Benefit Corner: 2023 R2R USA Conference in Milwaukee, WI! Pricing increases on August 31!! Register Today!

Member Attendee:

$799 per person (converter)

$999 per person (supplier)

Register two attendees and get the 3^rd 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

Jim Garvey and the Printing committee encourage all GAA Committee members to reach out to all your industry friends and encourage them to attend the R2R.

The association exists only through the participation of its members and networking is the best way to stay current in the converting industry.

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.

Articles from August edition: Biden-Harris Administration Proposes to Improve Air Pollution Emissions Data

On July 25, 2023, EPA announced proposed updates to the Agency’s Air Emissions Reporting Requirements rule, including proposing to require reporting of hazardous air pollutants, or “air toxics.” Air toxics are known or suspected to cause cancer and other serious health effects. The proposed updates would ensure that EPA has readily available data to identify places where people are exposed to harmful air pollution and to develop solutions, aligning with the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to advancing environmental justice.

Read the press release

From the press release see below

Information Webinars and Public Hearing – Learn More

EPA is holding a series of webinars to provide detailed information on background of the AERR and the current proposed rules. The deadline to submit written comments is October 18, 2023.

The reporting proposal will affect those who chrome plate gravure image carrying cylinders:

If you want to see the 105 page proposal:

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 40 CFR Parts 2 and 51 [EPA–HQ–OAR–2004–0489; FRL–8604–02– OAR] RIN 2060–AV41 Revisions to the Air Emissions Reporting Requirements AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Proposed rule.

Go To: 2023-16158.pdf (govinfo.gov)

Biden-Harris Administration Announces $135 Million to Reduce Emissions Across America’s Industrial Sector:

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $135 million for 40 projects that will reduce carbon pollution from the industrial sector and move the nation toward a net-zero emissions economy by 2050 by advancing key transformational and innovative technologies. Decarbonizing the U.S. industrial sector is an essential component of President Biden’s ambitious clean energy goals and is critical to achieving a clean energy future that benefits all Americans.

Read more on the announcement

To download August SmallBiz@EPA issue go to: SmallBiz@EPA August 2023 (mailchi.mp)

For the Latest Member News go to: Member News (RolltoRoll.org)

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.

For the Latest Member Announcements go to:

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

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)

Employee Search Starts Here!

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

THANK YOU FOR USING THE
GravurExchange

For the Garvure Committee News
Committee Details (rolltoroll.org)

GravurExchange Newsletter – July 2023

August 4, 2023

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 3^rd 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?

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 28^th, 29^th and 30^th 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.

Read the proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register

$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)

For the Latest Member News go to: Member News (RolltoRoll.org)

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.

For the Latest Member Announcements go to:

Converting Quarterly

Employee Search Starts Here!

Go to the following link to: Meet the Team | 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

THANK YOU FOR USING THE
GravurExchange

For the Garvure Committee News
Committee Details (rolltoroll.org)

GravurExchange Newsletter – May 2023

June 2, 2023

The May edition of the GravurExchange

Your source for news and events!

Inside May’s GravurExchange:

Article on Visual Management for Print Manufacturing by Greg Horney of BST North America
Article on Transitioning From Chrome to Ceramic Coating Rollers by John Rastetter, VP of Sales & Marketing-Pamarco
Information from Episodic Event Webinar
EPA and Environmental News
Upcoming Events and Other Gravure-Printing News

GravurExchange is always looking for interesting ideas to share:

In February, Greg Horney of BST North Amarica was the speaker for an FTA Webinar on Visual Management for Print Manufacturing and after attending the webinar, GravurExchange asked Greg to write an article so our members could learn his thoughts and methods.

Visual Management for Print Manufacturing

By Greg Horney, Central Region Sales Manager, BST North America

To understand visual management, we need to define it. Visual management is simple signals that provide an immediate understanding of a situation or condition of a process. They are efficient, self-regulating, and worker-managed. This is a circular process as part of our daily process to quickly identify problems or cues to perform tasks, understand the signal, fix the problem, or perform the task and repeat as necessary.

Examples include:

• Color-coded dies, tools, or pallets
• Lines on the floor to delineate storage areas, walkways, work areas, etc.
• Improved lighting
• Inline production inspection

Visual management tools create a visual snapshot of how well our processes are being controlled or how well they are performing and reducing waste in less than a minute through posted 5S audit scores, 1-point lessons, light trees, and posted key performance indicators (KPIs) at each process.

As a process owner (working directly on the process), visual cues are key to reducing waste within the processes identifying issues early or as they occur by triggering a visible warning so we can react to it. Print-inspection cameras on presses can identify defects such as color variation, ink splatter, or missing print that trigger light trees and show the issues on monitors for the press operator to correct the issue quickly. This also allows for accurate press runs reducing the amount of overrun or the need for reruns because of underproduction due to waste. Proper visual management can improve makeready times by reducing the amount of time looking for tools (shadow boards), looking for dies or tooling (color coding), and having inputs to the process cued up and ready (job checklists), for example.

As a manager of multiple processes such as a department, production, or plant manager, visual management allows for quick understanding of how the production floor is performing. Running/stopped light trees on presses allow us to see what machines are running and which presses are down or going down frequently.

Live KPIs, such as overall equipment efficiency (OEE), yield, and waste, allow us to quickly see how a process is performing. These can be displayed on monitors at each process and fed directly to a central performance monitor showing all processes at a central location. Posted 5S audit scores show how well a process is being maintained and organized. The audit score also defines how effective the 5S efforts are on the overall efficiencies.

As an element of continuous improvement, visual management lends itself to the control phase of the DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve, control) Six Sigma process. Posted 1-point lessons ensure tasks are done properly while the different levels of signals, live statistical process control (SPC), flagging, or inspection is critical within the control phase of the process. In the control phase, using visual maintenance management boards helps keep machinery PMs on track to avoid unscheduled downtime.

If you look around, visual management tools are all around us. They come in many forms but must be implemented in a way that is unique to each process and need.

Greg Horney

BST North America

Central Region
Sales Manager
greg.horney@bst.group

Greg Horney has more than 37 years of experience in the commercial-printing industry that encompasses flexographic, offset and gravure processes with a combination in operations and sales. Greg holds a Bachelor of Science from the Rochester Institute of Technology, a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, and is an FTA FIRST Certified Implementation Specialist.

May 2023 Gravure Technical Article

The first in a series of Technical Overviews covering: Transitioning from Conventional Chrome to Laser-Engraved Cr²O³ in Gravure-Coating Station Cylinders

By John Rastetter, VP of Sales & Marketing, Pamarco

The gravure-coating process has become a critical component of industrial production spanning the medical, pharmaceutical, electronic, battery, and automotive fields, among others. Its unrivaled ability to apply a variety of materials such as adhesives, heat-resistant coatings, embellishments and texture-enhancing substances to a web surface has made it indispensable. Traditionally, this coating process has been accomplished using chrome rolls produced either by electromechanically or mechanically engraving, then hard-chrome electroplating. However, technological advancements have introduced the potential for using laser-engraved ceramic rolls, which may significantly improve service life and coatweight consistency over an extended period.

The transition from conventional chrome to laser-engraved Cr²O³ (Chromium Oxide) ceramic in gravure coating requires a thorough understanding of the implications for coatweight calculations based on volume. This article aims to provide a comprehensive guide on the considerations to be made during this transition and the methodology for calculating coatweight.

The shift to laser-engraved ceramic rolls is not a trivial one. These rolls are created using high-precision lasers that engrave a pattern into a ceramic-coated cylinder, thus allowing for a precise and consistent application of the coating. There are a variety of patterns to choose from that provide unique characteristics based on the rheology of the fluid being coated.

An example of a few cell designs would be Trihelical, 30-degree channel, 75-degree extended cell, and 60-degree. Choosing the ideal cell design will aid in applying the correct coatweight, ensuring consistency over time but just as important applying the coating uniformly. What I am referring to is the smoothness of the application, and the absence of pinholes and other visual defects. Selection is made based on the fluid being coated and the substrate it is being applied to.

One of the key advantages of laser-engraved ceramic rolls is their longevity. The hard ceramic surface resists wear much better than traditional chrome, leading to less downtime for roll changes and maintenance. Furthermore, the wide selection of cell designs combined with the volume consistency over time allows for a much higher degree of control over the volume of coating applied, leading to improved coatweight consistency.

However, transitioning to these advanced cylinders requires an accurate calculation of the volume required. The engraving volume, often referred to BCM (billions of cubic microns/in.²), plays a critical role in determining the coatweight, and hence, careful calculation is needed.

The coatweight is calculated by multiplying the cell volume by the number of cells per unit area. This is then adjusted by the efficiency factor, which accounts for the fact that not all the material in the cells is transferred to the web. The basic formula is as follows, but we also take into account the specific gravity and percent solids of the coating.

Coatweight = Cell Volume x Cells/Area x Efficiency Factor
In a traditional chrome cylinder, the cell volume is determined by the mechanical or electromechanical engraving process. However, in a laser-engraved ceramic cylinder, the cell volume is determined by the laser-engraving parameters.
Example of calculation for Volume (BCM)

Example of establishing Transfer Efficiency

In conclusion, the transition from conventional chrome to laser-engraved Cr²O³ in gravure coating brings significant benefits in terms of longevity and coatweight consistency over time. However, it also necessitates a detailed understanding of the differences in cell volume and geometry between the two types of cylinders. By carefully calculating these parameters, businesses can make informed decisions about whether to make the switch and how to optimize their coating processes with the new technology. Roller suppliers are your best resource when considering transitioning to the laser-engraved technology. Pamarco has a variety of tools and the knowledge to make this process painless.

John Rastetter
Pamarco
Vice President of Sales and Marketing
john.rastetter@pamarco.com

John Rastetter is a third-generation printer. He is an internationally experienced executive who has an appreciation for the global nature of today’s packaging business and its impact on clients. He graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology, is a member of the FTA and a contributor to technical articles in various trade journals and has made presentations at the AICC, FTA and FPPA. In January 2023, John became Co-Chair of the (GAA) Gravure AIMCAL Alliance Committee of the Association for Roll-To-Roll Converters (ARC).
John can be reached at: 404-961-6378, Mobile: 856-278-0545

In the April 2023 edition of the GravurExchange, the link to register for a Webinar hosted by the Wisconsin Printing Industry Superior Environmental Performance Charter (ARC is a member) was provided.

“Strategies for Managing Episodic Hazardous-Waste Generation”

Presented by Julie LaRose, Waste Management Specialist –
Senior, State of Wisconsin, Department of Natural Resources.

Those who were able to attend learned the US EPA on November 28, 2016, EPA issued a rule that finalizes an update to the hazardous-waste generator regulations to make the rules easier for those classified as “very small quantity generators” or “small quantity generators” to maintain their generator category. The updated regulation allows for an “episodic” event that could allow disposal of an excessive amount of waste.

“Episodic events” refer to an activity or activities, either planned or unplanned, that do not normally occur during generator operations and result in an increase in the generation of hazardous wastes that exceed the calendar-month quantity limits for the generator. The map shows which states have adopted the Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements final rule and which states have been authorized by EPA to implement it. Remember, only very small quantity and small quantity generators are eligible for episodic events.

You can download the Webinar slides and other Wisconsin DNR supportive materials such as PDFs to help you understand “episodic-event” regulatory requirements: https://aimcal.sharefile.com/d-sb3c1e2bf18ee4f2fac12291421441ef7

The following link will help you learn more: Where is the Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule in Effect? | US EPA

“If your state has adopted or been authorized to implement the Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements rule, contact your state EPA agency to learn more about filing a notification for an episodic event.”

Articles from May edition: Proposal to Strengthen Standards for Synthetic Organic Chemical Plants and Polymers and Resins Plants

On April 6, 2023, the US EPA announced a proposal to significantly reduce emissions of toxic and other harmful air pollution from chemical plants, including the highly toxic chemicals ethylene oxide (EtO) and chloroprene. The reductions would dramatically reduce the number of people with elevated air toxics-related cancer risks in communities surrounding the plants that use those two chemicals, especially communities historically overburdened by air toxics pollution, and would also cut more than 6,000 tons of toxic air pollution a year

Read the proposal

Biden-Harris Administration Announces Latest Steps to Reduce Plastic Pollution Nationwide

On April 21, 2023, the US EPA released the draft titled, “National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution,” for public comment, a significant step forward in the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to reduce pollution and build a circular economy for all. EPA’s draft strategy includes ambitious actions to eliminate the release of plastic and other waste from land-based sources into the environment by 2040.

Read the press release

EPA Takes Important Step to Advance PFAS Strategic Roadmap, Requests Public Input and Data to Inform Potential Future Regulations under CERCLA

On April 13, 2023, the US EPA issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) asking the public for input regarding potential future hazardous-substance designations of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as “Superfund.”

This request for input and information follows EPA’s September 2022 proposed rule to designate two PFAS—perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), and their salts and structural isomers—as hazardous substances under CERCLA. EPA is currently reviewing comments received on this proposed rule.

Read the press release

To download May 2023 SmallBiz@EPA issue, go to: SmallBiz@EPA May 2023 (mailchi.mp)

For the Latest Member News go to: Member News (RolltoRoll.org)

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.

For the Latest Member Announcements go to:

SAVE THE DATE!

The 2023 R2R USA Conference & Expo is going to Milwaukee, WI from October 2-5

https://www.rolltoroll.org/2023-r2r-usa-conference

Read the article on the 2023 R2R USA Conference

Milwaukee to host R2R USA Conference 2023 Association for Roll-to-Roll Converters issues call for papers (aimcal.org)

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 with 5 minutes for Q&A.

Gravure Track Preparations

Todd Luman of Interprint is the “Gravure Track” Coordinator for the 2023 R2R USA Conference, and the committee has put together a terrific agenda to bring current issue topics to the Gravure Track. Topics are focused toward “printers,” especially in the gravure process.

If you have questions, please contact Todd Luman tluman@interprint.com or Tim Janes tjanes@rolltoroll.org

Jim Garvey, chair of the Gravure AIMCAL Alliance Committee, encourages all members to participate by joining a committee Go To: Committees (www.rolltoroll.org)

The association exists only through the participation of its members. The association has seven other committees in addition to the Gravure AIMCAL Alliance, so there is no reason for any member’s employees involved in Printing/Converting not to find a committee that will be beneficial to them in new knowledge and networking. Become active and join a committee!

Converting Quarterly

The official technical journal of the Association for Roll-to-Roll Converters (formerly 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.

Employee Search Starts Here!

Go to the following link to: Meet the Team | 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

THANK YOU FOR USING THE
GravurExchange

For the Garvure Committee News
Committee Details (rolltoroll.org)

GravurExchange Newsletter – April 2023

April 27, 2023

The April edition of the GravurExchange

Your source for news and events!

Inside April’s GravurExchange:

Association for Roll-To-Roll Converters joins Wisconsin Green Tier Charter.
Cal Poly Graphic Communication provides update on its Gravure process training.
Article on barrier coatings for fiber-based (paperboard) substrates by Katherine Graham of Bobst.
GAA-Committee members support career awareness to High Schools through:
- Phoenix Challenge High School Competition.
- Career presentations and tours for High Schools.
EPA and Environmental News
Upcoming Events and other gravure-printing news

This year’s members-only event is shaping up to be a truly exceptional experience, all designed to educate and inform you about the latest industry trends while providing unique opportunities to connect with colleagues and gain valuable insights from expert speakers.

WHY YOU SHOULD GO:

Valuable workshops: Three days of inspiring presentations on attracting and retaining young professionals, management best practices, and manufacturing megatrends.
Learn from industry leaders: Our carefully crafted agenda is filled with insights from roll-to-roll industry leaders in packaging, consumer electronics, digital twin solutions, and battery manufacturing.
Unique networking events: Networking opportunities include a golf scramble at the serene Furman University Golf Club and a thrilling networking experience at BMW’s Performance Driving School.
Factory tours: A behind-the-scenes facility tour at BMW North America and a specialty tour and presentation from The Packaging School.
View the full schedule here.

WHEN AND WHERE IT’S HAPPENING:

May 16-18 in beautiful Greenville, South Carolina.
Receive a preferred room rate when you book at the stunning AC Hotel by Marriott Greenville by May 2.
Click here to book your room!

REGISTER TODAY!

Special Announcement!
The Association for Roll-To-Roll Converters (ARC) (formerly AIMCAL) has been added to the Wisconsin Printing Industry Green Tier Charter, joining the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources, the FTA, PRINTING United Alliance, TLMI and the Great Lakes Graphics Association.

The GAA & GAA-Committee has participated in the WI Printing Industry Council for several years. After the merger of GAA into AIMCAL, ARC Executive Director Chris Kerscher saw it was advantageous for the association to become a member of the Green Tier Charter for Superior Environmental Performance within the WI Printing Industry Council.

Wisconsin is home to more than 30 ARC member companies, and the Wisconsin Printing Industry Council has been a leader in promoting open communication between the regulatory agencies and the printing/converting community. As society pushes for sustainability and a circular packaging economy, communication among the affected parties is more important than ever. The State of Wisconsin and all the signatories of the charter ratified the amendment to include the Association for Roll-To-Roll Converters. Chris stated that being included in the charter shows the association’s support to sustainability efforts for a better environment.

About the Wisconsin Printing Industries charter | | Wisconsin DNR

The charter provides a vehicle to improve sustainable business practices within the printing industry, while increasing regulatory efficiency in return. The charter contains commitments of value to both the department and the printing industry that provide environmental and economic benefits. This charter includes several overarching goals to:

Identify opportunities for improving compliance and regulatory efficiency. This includes streamlining current environmental regulations, creating new approaches to meet regulatory obligations, and developing and updating support and guidance documents.
Explore and promote alternative approaches to beyond-compliance environmental activities. This includes outreach to the industry about the Green Tier and SGP programs, sustainable green-printing practices and new technologies, new or revised regulations, and other resources.
Encourage printing companies to participate in Green Tier and SGP programs to take advantage of additional benefits [PDF]. This includes:
- Recognition at the state and national level
- Ability to apply efforts to both programs, including:
  - Working toward the same objectives and continuous improvement projects;
  - Providing progress updates in one annual report format; and
  - Conducting one audit to satisfy requirements of both programs.
A fact sheet [PDF] summarizes additional benefits for Wisconsin printers participating in both programs.

Cal Poly Graphic Communication provides update on its Gravure process training.

The K-Proofer was generously granted to Cal Poly Graphic Communication by the Gravure Education Endowment (GEF) and the Print Graphics Scholarship Foundation (PGSF) in Fall 2021. Since then, it has been used for teaching, research, and extra-curricular activities. The K-Proofer was integrated into hands-on learning activities for over 200 undergraduate students.

Students were taught the differences in gravure, flexography, lithography, and silkscreen printing processes. In particular, gravure was briefly introduced in GrC 101 Introduction to Graphic Communication. With the addition of the K-Proofer, we could incorporate more in-depth explanations of gravure in multiple classes, including GrC 211 Materials for Graphic Communication Applications, and GrC 328 Digital and Offset Printing Methods.

In GrC 211, with the help of the K-Proofer, students had hands-on experience with gravure ink by measuring ink viscosity and making proofs. In GrC 328, students get a deeper understanding of the differences between analog-printing processes. Students are introduced to the printing principles, press technologies, sustainability challenges, substrates, and inks considerations of the Gravure process. Consequently, students will thoroughly understand how gravure is different from flexography, as gravure controls both the area of ink coverage and ink-film thickness in the same print unit.

In the lab activities, students could observe the gravure plate from K-Proofer under the microscope. Then they are provided with real-world print samples to analyze the print features, quality, and volume. At the end of the class, students felt more comfortable analyzing different print samples and associating them with specific printing methods by identifying the end-use of the sample and analyzing the print features, such as halo edge from flexography and serrated edge from gravure.

Moreover, students also learn color-matching by using the spectrophotometer on the print samples from the K-Proofer.

Cal Poly’s Graphic Communication Department is very thankful that PGSF and GEF support schools like ours. With the K-Proofer in our labs, students are empowered with hands-on experiences that deepen their understanding of gravure technology.

We want to thank Ruoxi Rachel Ma, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Graphic Communication, California Polytechnic State University, for providing the article and supporting the gravure process to her students.

GravurExchange asked BOBST to provide our readers with the latest R&D concerning increased pressure to make packaging more sustainable using paper-based substrates.

Sustainability through fiber-based substrate adaptability

These projects are identified by two umbrella terms – oneBARRIER and “One” complete solution – and address two key focal points for the flexible-packaging industry: the recyclability / circularity of packaging, and the transformation of the production workflow. Both are crucial and connected. As an end-to-end packaging solution provider, BOBST needs to consider the entire production process.

oneBARRIER – recycle-ready flexible packaging

oneBARRIER represents one of the most exciting milestones in the journey toward truly sustainable packaging – a family of new alternative and sustainable solutions. These include oneBARRIER PrimeCycle – polymer-based monomaterial substrates that are EVO and topcoat-free – and oneBARRIER FibreCycle – full fibre/paper-based monomaterial structures coated with functional layers that can be recycled in the existing paper wastestream. Both are viable replacements for metallized-polyester, non-recyclable substrates.

“The validity and viability of the oneBARRIER family of recycle-ready high-barrier substrates was firmly established in 2022, as they were converted and printed on real scale equipment,” explains Sara Alexander, marketing and communications mgr.-Flexible Packaging Industry at BOBST. “BOBST has worked closely with an ecosystem of leading industry partners to create recycle-ready monomaterial, high- and ultra-high-barrier, duplex and triplex substrates as an alternative to non-recyclable metallized packaging for packaging designers.”

The oneBARRIER PrimeCycle PE AlOx monomaterial has been certified by the German institute Cyclos-HTP (cyclos-HTP – Institut cyclos-HTP), with a recyclability level of 98%, which exceeds industry guidelines and is an extraordinary achievement for high-barrier films. The oneBARRIER FibreCycle AluBond structure has also recently been tested by the German PTS institute (Papiertechnische Stiftung: Fibre-based research & development | PTS Website (ptspaper.de) and has been assessed as recyclable.

“Making recycle-ready flexible packaging a reality for our converting customers has been a priority objective for BOBST,” says Sara. “It is a journey that reached a major milestone achievement last year. In 2023, we are continuing to work on other developments and structures in polymer- and fibre-based applications and will also intensify our collaborative R&D on the third type of sustainable packaging, namely compostable/biodegradable solutions. We will also continue to submit the oneBARRIER different structures for assessment and add certifications by independent certification institutes.”

One complete solution – dedicated workflows for seamless production

BOBST has announced the launch of One complete solution, portfolio of end-to-end workflows for seamless quality production, from application management guidance and production of functional substrates to prepress setup, printing, converting, quality control and services. As the needs of converters become more unique due to diverse market factors, One complete solution provides everything converters need, tailored to their specific needs.

“The One complete solution for the production of the oneBARRIER FibreCycle recycle-ready substrate is a good example,” explains Sara. “The solution comprises the Expert K5 vacuum metallizer for deposition of AlOx or AluBond and the oneBARRIER Expert Coater for the primer and topcoating processes. It is everything the converter needs.”

The advantages for converters of having integrated equipment for production through One complete solution are manifold. These include integrated package solutions delivering process-machine-output in one flow; in this case, guaranteed barrier properties of the full structures (pre-coat + metallization + post-coat + eventually lamination, printing); knowledge of all technologies – coating, vacuum metallizing, gravure printing, flexo printing from narrow- to ultra-wide web, lamination equipment and processes from a single supplier; and different kinds of raw material specifications, coatings, adhesive chemicals and inks.

“Through oneBARRIER and One complete solution, BOBST is adding to its comprehensive portfolio of end-to-end solutions to help converters achieve complete and seamless quality production for more sustainable and productive flexible packaging,” concludes Sara.

Katherine Graham, regional marketing and communications mgr.-Bobst NA:
katherine.graham@bobst.com

Education member Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) Hosts the 2023 High School Phoenix Challenge

On March 22-24, the 2023 Phoenix Challenge High School Flexographic Skills Competition, organized by the Phoenix Challenge Foundation (PCF), was held at CPCC in Charlotte, NC, in the Harper Campus graphics and printing labs.

The competition includes skills and testing on press operation (2-color job), prepress, platemaking, FTA Level One Certification, and a printing-related math skills test. ARC members Harper Corporation, SGS (Southern Graphics) and Sun Chemical always step up to provide judges and presentation to teachers. In addition to the five-element competition, the students and teachers receive hands-on ink training including mixing and proofing to match a Pantone color. This year we had 11 (two-member) teams from five states. The winner was Career Technical Center of Lackawanna County PA. High School Program — Phoenix Challenge Foundation

We want to thank CCL-Label and Evelyn Cruz for hosting tours with the students and teachers from the Phoenix Challenge to view label production first-hand. Seeing the multi-process printing operation is a great plus while they are in Charlotte.

To see more pictures and information from the 2023 PCHS go to: https://aimcal.sharefile.com/d-s3cf4233693944059b1a4ac3281cac6fb

Education member Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) Hosts Palisades High School Graphics Field Trip

The PHS students and teachers were able to tour the CPCC Harper Campus Graphic Arts and Image Technology (GAIT) labs while the Phoenix Challenge High School Flexo Competition was taking place. The field trip had two major purposes: First was to introduce the students to the Phoenix Challenge Foundation High School Flexo Challenge. This provides incentive to the class to put together a team to compete in the 2024 Phoenix Challenge. The second purpose was to introduce students to the graphic industry and its career opportunities. Printing industry association representatives Jeff Stoudt of PICA, Dale Coates of TLMI, Robb Firming of FTA, Caitlin Salaverria of ICPF, Tony Donato of ARC, and Bettylyn Krafft of PCF all addressed the students’ questions on career possibilities.

Aaron D. Freeman, Palisades High School, CTE HS Graphics & Digital Design, Web Development Instructor, commented that the 19 students found the field trip was eye-opening to an industry they were unaware of. They were also excited to learn of the GAIT-available training at Central Piedmont Community College and the numerous industry scholarships.

Following are pictures from the March 23 field trip.

To read the full article and see more pictures go to the following link to download: https://aimcal.sharefile.com/d-s552823231aaa405fae5ae0c7b46b3638

On April 6, CCL-Label Charlotte NC hosts Advanced Manufacturing Engineering Class of Olympic High School

Eighteen students and faculty members were able to tour the CCL-Label facility. Matthew Wykoff, Academy of Engineering NBCT instructor, was very impressed and did not realize the technology and engineering disciplines needed to produce roll-to-roll labels. The students were able to see first-hand the career potential in the printing/converting industry.

Seeing the technology and cleanliness when touring CCL’s fleet of 18 R2R label presses left a lasting impression on the students. This tour is part of the effort of Evelyn Cruz, operations director, to have CCL-Label become involved in the local educational community to engage students with awareness of the careers available in printing/converting. Cruz gave a PPT presentation reviewing the printing processes the attendees saw during the tour and where they learned about CCL and its 204 worldwide facilities.

Jim Garvey, chair of the GAA Committee, commends CCL-Label and Evelyn Cruz for reaching out to the next generation that will be joining the workforce and promoting careers in printing and converting. Jim encourages all members to get engaged with your local community to help promote our industry.

Free Webinar

“Strategies for Managing Episodic Hazardous Waste Generation”

Presented by:

Jennifer A. Birkholz

Environmental Business Support Coordinator Sustainability & Business Support | Green Tier

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

The webinar is hosted by the Wisconsin Printing Industry Superior Environmental Performance Charter along with its member organizations; Great Lakes Graphics Association, TLMI, FTA, Association of Roll-to-Roll Converters, Printing United, the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership, and the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources.

Download flyer: https://aimcal.sharefile.com/d-s9232856b231a4fe1a5127286218b3b7a

Registration link is on flyer.

Article from April edition:

New Source Performance Standards Review for

Industrial Surface Coating of Plastic Parts for Business Machines

The US EPA is finalizing amendments to the new source performance standards for Industrial Surface Coating of Plastic Parts for Business Machines pursuant to the review required by the Clean Air Act. For affected facilities that commence construction, modification, or reconstruction after June 21, 2022, the EPA is, in a new subpart, finalizing volatile organic compound (VOC) emission limitations for prime, color, texture, and touch-up coating operations. We are also finalizing a requirement for electronic submission of periodic compliance reports. This final rule went into effect March 27, 2023. Read the rule in the Federal Register.

Full April 2023 issue is available at: SmallBiz@EPA April 2023 (mailchi.mp)

For the Latest Member News go to:
Member News (RolltoRoll.org)

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.

For the Latest Member Announcements go to:

For upcoming Roll-to-Roll Industry Events go to:

Conferences & Events Calendar

Our industry event calendar includes all events. To view the Association for Roll-to-Roll Converters conferences & events, they are listed on the bottom of this page.

The 2023 R2R USA Conference & Expo

is going to Milwaukee, WI from October 2-5

https://www.rolltoroll.org/2023-r2r-usa-conference

Read the article on the 2023 R2R USA Conference

Milwaukee to host R2R USA Conference 2023 Association for Roll-to-Roll Converters issues call for papers (aimcal.org)

Call for Papers for the 2023 R2R USA Conference R2R Call for Papers (rolltoroll.org)

There will be six technical-presentation tracks plus keynote speakers. Topics are Web Handling, Coating & Laminating, Gravure (Printing), Sustainability, Vacuum Coating, and Breakthrough Markets (Printed Electronics/Battery). Presentations are 25 minutes w/ 5 minutes Q & A.

Todd Luman of Interprint is the “Gravure Track” Coordinator for the 2023 R2R USA Conference, and he is asking to all who aspire to be a presenter to begin preparing an abstract. Gravure Track topics need to focused toward “printers,” especially in the gravure process. Presentations need to be technically oriented and non-commercial. Submission deadline is May 31, 2023.

If you have questions, please contact Todd Luman tluman@interprint.com or Tim Janes tjanes@rolltoroll.org

Jim Garvey, chair of the Gravure AIMCAL Alliance Committee, encourages all members to participate by joining a committee Go To: Committee Submission Form | AIMCAL

The Online “Entry Level Technician” Course Available!

This course continues to be very popular with members and non-members. The ELT course contains 10 modules covering Pressroom Safety, Gravure Process Strengths and Distinctions, Gravure Market Segments, Print Station Components, Doctor Blades, Inks and best practices, Web Basics (Unwind-Splice-Outfeed), Web (Tension-Temperature-Treatments), Registration Fundamentals and Pre & Makeready practices. ELT also contains 13 recorded presentations from Gravure Seminars and conferences. All GAA-Committee online courses along with the Gravure textbooks are all available at www.aimcal.org, click on “Resources” tab, then pick “Products” from the dropdown. You will also see all the training courses and other products that are offered by AIMCAL.

The official technical journal of the Association for Roll-to-Roll Converters, is a great source of information and curent 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.

If you are looking for new employees or are looking for employment

We encourage you to use the new resources on the AIMCAL 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 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

THANK YOU FOR USING THE

GravurExchange

For the Garvure Committee News

Committee Details (rolltoroll.org)

GravurExchange Newsletter – March 2023

April 27, 2023

The March edition of the GravurExchange

Your source for news and events!

Lou DeFlaviis GAA Chair 2019-2022: Gives his farewell words of wisdom.

Lou DeFlaviis GAA Chair 2019-2022:
Gives his farewell words of wisdom.

To my fellow colleagues:

I would like to thank everyone for the continued support of the AIMCAL organization. I also would like to thank Tony Donato for his unending support during the process, and as he continues to keep things moving forward… As we searched for a way to keep the Gravure association alive. It was important to choose the best fit, and merge with an organization that supports the process and supports the membership. It was a very difficult but rewarding experience, to combine the two organizations for continued support and growth of the Gravure process. AIMCAL was chosen as the most logical, as many of the current members at the time employed the gravure process.

I would like to also thank Chris Kerscher and the AIMCAL group, as he and the others were instrumental in the process of combining the two organizations. I also want to thank Phil Pimlott; without his help and knowledge we would not be where we are today and was extremely essential to putting the two organizations together.

The road has been long but rewarding. I have been involved with the PLGA and GAA for many years. It was in 2013 under the leadership of Phil Pimlott that both organizations joined forces and merged to strengthen and support the Gravure process. This led to the creation of the Gravure Association of the Americas. The consolidation of the two organizations was long overdue and necessary. In 2019 I took over the leadership role from Frank Passarelli, little did I know the COVID Pandemic was around the corner. The Pandemic put the GAA into survival mode and I appreciate all those who rallied to keep the Gravure Association alive for another day.

As we fast forward to today, it was recognized in 2020 that a strong partner was needed to keep the vision alive. When we spoke to AIMCAL it was evident that this organization utilizes the process and would be a great fit to keeping the Gravure vision and process alive and as of August 1st 2021 the GAA merged into AIMCAL and became the Gravure AIMCAL Alliance Committee.

Over the years I have had the pleasure of working together with many of the members. I would like to thank everyone for the past, present, and future support of the organization. As they say, time does fly. Wishing everyone the best!

I am planning to officially retire effective May 1, 2023 and start a new career.

Please be safe and be well.

Best wishes to all.

Lou DeFlaviis

Past GAA Chair:
Lou DeFlaviis

2019-2022

Gravure Track Coordinator for 2023 R2R

Todd Luman is the “Gravure Track” Coordinator for the 2023 R2R and he is asking to all who aspire to be a presenter at the R2R scheduled in October in the Gravure Committee track to start thinking about preparing an abstract. The “Call for Papers” announce will be issued soon by the Association for Roll-To-Roll Converters. The Gravure Track topics need to focused to “Printers” especially the gravure process. The presentation needs to be technically oriented and non-commercial. If you have questions please contact Todd Luman tluman@interprint.com and Tim Janes tjanes@rolltoroll.org

The “Call for Papers” is coming soon so start preparing to respond.

Jim Garvey the Gravure AIMCAL Alliance Committee Chair encourages all members to participate by joining a committee:

Committee Submission Form | AIMCAL

The association only exists through the participation of its members. The association has 7 other committees in addition to the GAA-Committee so there is no reason for any members employees involved in Printing/Converting not to find a committee that will be beneficial to them in knowledge and networking. Become active and join a committee!

Call for Papers for the 2023 R2R Conference;

R2R Call for Papers (rolltoroll.org)

There will be 6 tracks plus keynote speakers. The tracks are Web-Handling, Coating & Laminating, Gravure (Printing), Sustainability, Vacuum Coating and Market (Printed Electronics/Battery). Presentations are 25 minutes w/ 5 minutes Q & A.

Todd Luman is the “Gravure Track” Coordinator for the 2023 R2R and he is asking to all who aspire to be a presenter at the R2R scheduled in October in the Gravure Committee track to start thinking about preparing an abstract. The Gravure Track topics need to focused to “Printers” especially the gravure process. The presentation needs to be technically oriented and non-commercial. If you have questions, please contact Todd Luman tluman@interprint.com and Tim Janes tjanes@rolltoroll.org

Announcements
May 16th-18th ,2023

The Spring Conference has been rebranded to be the

“Business Summit”

with a theme of

“Innovation & Design”

Being held in Greenville, SC

2023 Business Summit (aimcal.org)

For the Latest Member News go to:

Member News (aimcal.org)

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.

R2R 2023 Going to Milwaukee WI October 2-5

https://www.rolltoroll.org/2023-r2r-usa-conference

Read article concerning the 2023 R2R USA

Milwaukee to host R2R USA Conference 2023 Association for Roll-to-Roll Converters issues call for pa (aimcal.org)

For upcoming Roll-to-Roll Industry Events go to:

Conferences & Events Calendar

Our industry event calendar includes all events. To view the Association for Roll-to-Roll Converters conferences & events, they are listed on the right side of this page. Or you can scroll over “Conference & Events” at the top of the website page.

March Technology Featured Article

Guest Author:

Alan Rogers

Polymount USA

Alan Rogers introduced the “Film Cleaner” machine at the 2021 R2R in the Gravure Track and the following article from Alan Rogers explains the “Film Cleaner” has truly helped those concern with sustainability and reducing printed film wastes from water or solvent based ink as it has been adapted by more printer/converters.

In today’s post-pandemic world, plastic prices have skyrocketed and printers are looking for new ways to reduce waste to offset these higher prices. In addition, most converters are busier than they have ever been so the increase in production also increases their waste numbers. Sustainability has become a very important aspect of our global society and printers today are working to reduce their carbon footprint, reduce waste, and recycle more than ever. However, no matter how hard we work on our sustainability program, there always seems to be leftover waste in the form of plastics that prevent you from achieving your goals. One of the biggest areas of waste for flexible packaging printers is make-ready film. Setting up a job can be costly, especially when several thousand feet of the film is used to match color and registration and then sent to the corner to collect dust after set-up is complete.

Once color and registration are in check, the job is run and the start-up material goes to waste as it can no longer be used due to the ink and mis-prints on the film. But what if you could re-use that film?

What if there were a way to “erase” the ink so you could set-up another job with the same film? Even if you don’t want to re-use the “clean” film for additional start-ups, you can choose to recycle it instead. Clean film with no ink will obtain a higher resale value compared to printed film.

Some converters are choosing a third option, which enables them to save money and eliminate their waste 100%. After cleaning the ink off of the film, they are re-granulating it back into pellets and adding it to virgin pellets when extruding new film.

This allows them to be 100% sustainable when it comes to managing their plastics inside their plant. How is this possible? Polymount International, creators of reusable solutions, has developed the first machine that can remove ink from your printed film. Instead of ending up with thousands, even millions of pounds of waste, the Polymount “Film Cleaner” removes the ink from printed film at a rate of as much as 100mteres/ minute and enables you to reuse your make-ready film over and over again! This machine is a gamechanger for the flexible packaging industry and will become a staple inside every converter in the next several years.

How does it work? It’s simple. The roll of printed film is guided through the machine via multiple loops and tension bars through a tank filled with a specialty developed Polywash cleaning liquid. Special microfiber brushes scrub the film, gently removing the ink. The pigment is filtered through a crossflow filtration system, dumping the dried pigment in a tote (recommend to run TCLP, the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP), which is used for determining whether a solid waste is a hazardous waste) and then the remaining Polywash liquid is pumped back into the machine for re-use. The last station is where the film is rinsed and dried with a patented technology, the end result is a roll of clean film which is ready for the next set-up, or re-granulated for re-extrusion.

As much as the film cleaner provides savings by re-using their film, many printers have taken the stand that the sustainability revolving around this machine is the more important message. Their message to their customers is we are a sustainable company and cleaning our make-ready film for re-use drives that message home, which is important to many CGC’s (Consumer Goods Companies) in today’s environment. Many sustainability programs cost money, whereas this one, saves money. With ROI’s less than a year in most cases, cleaning film for re-use reduces waste, saves money and allows printers to achieve their sustainability goals. A win-win-win situation!

Alan Rogers arogers@polymount-int.nl learn more Film Cleaner – Polymount (polymount-int.com)

Wisconsin Printing Industry Council Promotes: Label Producers Sustainability Webinar

Wisconsin Printing Industry Council is teaming up with TLMI as part of the WI Green Tier Printing Charter, a cooperative agreement with the DNR and printing trade associations to promote a Webinar to learn about “The Association of Plastic Recyclers’ Meets Preferred Guidance Program for Labels”. Program for Labels Webinar is on Mar 29, 2023 1:00 PM EDT

APR’s Meet Preferred Guidance program can save label converters money and time on testing and get labels that enable plastic recycling to market quickly. With EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) legislation pending in many states, brands are asking for labels that are not detrimental to plastic recycling. The knowledge you will gain from this webinar is something you will want to add to your sustainability toolbox.

Please register for All About The Association of Plastic Recyclers’ Meets Preferred Guidance Program for Labels at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/647819485687348573

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar from TLMI (TLMI is the webinar organizer). GAA-Committee of the Association for Roll-To-Roll Converters is a supporter of the WI Printing Industry Council.

CCL-Label Charlotte NC hosted a tour for the Southern Piedmont Chapter 182 of SME on March 8th

SME always seeks manufacturing facilities to show their members the variety of products manufactured in their communities. 18 members and quests were dazzled at the technology and cleanliness they saw when touring CCL’s fleet of 18 roll to roll label presses. Before the tour, Evelyn Cruz the Director of Operations, presented a PPT where the attendees learned about CCL and its 204 worldwide facilities.

The PPT presentation was an overview explaining all the printing technologies that can be used by CCL in producing labels. There were sample flexo plates, a gravure cylinder, an Off-set plate and an imaged screen to illustrate the different ways the artwork was delivered to the substrates. The SME members all agreed CCL is a true manufacturer like any company making components.

Chapter 182 wants to thank Evelyn Cruz and Bradley Williams for being hosts and guides.

The March issue is available at SmallBiz@EPA March 2023 (mailchi.mp)

To ensure that the bulletin reaches your inbox each month we are asking that you add the ASBO email address, asbo@epa.gov, to your email contacts. This should alert your email software that this is from a trusted email contact and not an unwanted spam message.

The Online “Entry Level Technician” Course Available!

This course continues to be very popular with members and non-members. The ELT course contains 10 modules covering Pressroom Safety, Gravure Process Strengths and Distinctions, Gravure Market Segments, Print Station Components, Doctor Blades, Inks and best practices, Web Basics (Unwind-Splice-Outfeed), Web (Tension-Temperature-Treatments), Registration Fundamentals and Pre & Makeready practices. ELT also contains 13 recorded presentations from Gravure Seminars and conferences. All GAA-Committee online courses along with the Gravure textbooks are all available at www.aimcal.org, click on “Resources” tab, then pick “Products” from the dropdown. You will also see all the training courses and other products that are offered by AIMCAL.

The GAA Committee reviewed the plans for the Basic and Advanced Seminars and planning has started the seminars to be offered next year. The Basic and Advanced “live” Seminars will be held at Interprint in Pittsfield, MA in 2024.

Golden Cylinder Awards will be presented in 2024.

The next Golden Cylinder Awards presentation ceremony will be at the 2024 Business Summit. The entry forms will be available soon with the entry dead line of January 31^st, 2024. In moving the awards to the “Business Meeting” did not allow enough time to hold a 2023 competition. We encourage all to participate as the prestige for the Golden Cylinder continues to grow.

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 AIMCAL website: (Jobs (aimcal.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)

If you are looking for new employees or are looking for employment

We encourage you to use the new resources on the AIMCAL website: (Jobs (aimcal.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 process,
please go to: Become a Member | 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 tdoanto@gaa.org

GravurExchange Newsletter – February 2023

February 24, 2023

The February 2023 edition of the GravurExchange!

Your source for news and events!

As the Gravure Aimcal Alliance (GAA) Committee being in its 2^nd full year after merging with AIMCAL, renamed the Association for Roll-To-Roll Converters

Announces the 2023-2024.

GAA-Committee Leadership Team

The Gravure AIMCAL Alliance Committee is excited for the new leadership team.

Chair: Jim Garvey: Technical Manager- INX International Ink Co. James.Garvey@inxintl.com

Co-Chair: John Rastetter: VP of Sales & Marketing-Pamarco john.rastetter@pamarco.com

Secretary: Rod Sosa: Director of Operations- Fres-co Systems USA Inc rsosa@fresco.com

All three have expressed their enthusiaism on becoming GAA-Committee leadership. Please congratulate the three. The officers cannot run the committee alone, they are looking for others to help on sub-committees. If interested in participating in seclecting topics please email them your interests. For the GAA-Committee to be an asset to the association will take more than the officers the committee needs your particiaption.

The officers bio’s are available at:
https://aimcal.sharefile.com/d-sd9891f53bd93422db8e27e07696c17d5

Gravure Track Coordinator for 2023 R2R

Todd Luman is the “Gravure Track” Coordinator for the 2023 R2R and he is asking to all who aspire to be a presenter at the R2R scheduled in October in the Gravure Committee track to start thinking about preparing an abstract. The “Call for Papers” announce will be issued soon by the Association for Roll-To-Roll Converters. The Gravure Track topics need to focused to “Printers” especially the gravure process. The presentation needs to be technically oriented and non-commercial. If you have questions please contact Todd Luman tluman@interprint.com and Tim Janes tjanes@rolltoroll.org
The “Call for Papers” is coming soon so start preparing to respond.

Membership Renewal Dues have been invoiced:

The renewal invoices have been sent out from the “Association for Roll-To-Roll Converters” not AIMCAL not GAA so be sure to let the appropriate people know of the name change. Be sure to renew as a member before March 1^st. Any questions please email or call Tim Janes, Member Outreach Director: tjanes@rolltoroll.org cell 720-939-4992
On March 3^rd at 11am Eastern Tim Janes will hold a Teams Meeting Webinar to Review the Member Benefits of the Roll-To-Roll Association. Meeting Link: Click here to join the meeting. You are welcome to share the link with co-workers in your company. The webinar will be recorded and the link shared at a later date.

Announcements:

Save the Dates: May 16^th-18^th,2023
The Spring Conference has been rebranded to be the
“Business Summit”
with a theme of
“Innovation & Design”
Watch for the exciting details to be revealed soon.

For the Latest Member News go to:

Member News (aimcal.org)

For the Latest Member Announcements go to:

Member News: Watch Video | Note from Executive Director | Business Summit | Member Spotlight | Committee Update | Education Highlight | Roll-to-Roll Conferences (informz.net)

For upcoming Roll-to-Roll Events go to:

Conferences and Events | AIMCAL

February Featured Article for EHS key personnel.

Guess Author:
Julie LaRose
Waste Management Specialist – Senior
State of Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources

Waste Determinations: The Cornerstone of Hazardous Waste Compliance

“Accurate waste determinations are the cornerstone of proper waste management. If a hazardous waste is misclassified as non-hazardous, a host of regulatory issues ensues.” According to Mike Ellenbecker, Hazardous Waste Program Coordinator with the State of Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the foundation on which hazardous waste compliance is built consists of a thorough understanding of generated waste streams. Depending on the nature of the hazards, mischaracterizing a waste stream can result in superficial to catastrophic failures. The most devastating outcomes can result in the loss of life or irreparable damage to the environment.
The waste determination process is also compromised when non-hazardous waste is mistakenly identified as hazardous. Gary Jones, Director of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Affairs at Printing United Alliance, explains “Improperly classifying non-hazardous waste as hazardous can create regulatory burdens that are unnecessary and costly.”
If a company has never experienced an unannounced hazardous waste compliance inspection the prospect may seem daunting, but these inspections follow a predictable path that can provide the company with an opportunity to evaluate and improve their waste management efforts. During an inspection, department compliance specialists examine waste streams and the associated waste determinations to ensure that hazardous waste is properly characterized, handled, accumulated, transported, treated, and disposed of. When a company’s waste determination process is flawed, it can lead to areas of non-compliance and in some cases, enforcement actions. To strengthen your waste management program, it is valuable to have an awareness of both the common stumbling blocks that businesses experience and a knowledge of the available resources.
To protect both workers and the environment, the hazards of each generated waste must be well understood and communicated. Companies that rely solely on the expertise of third parties such as consultants, brokers, transporters or treatment, storage and disposal facilities (TSDFs) run the risk of waste mischaracterization and potential compliance issues as the regulatory responsibility for waste determinations resides solely with the generator. Companies should not assume that their waste hauler or TSDFs test every hazardous waste stream or that these third parties can identify unknown hazards. Often, TSDFs only test parts of incoming loads for limited parameters or characteristics. This disconnect can create hazardous conditions for the generator, the transporter and the TSDF.
For example, a facility may assume their Flexo Computer-to-Plate printing operations are ecofriendly and do not generate hazardous waste. This presumption fails to consider the plate development process that generates a waste stream with a pH above 12.5, making it a corrosive hazardous waste. Conversely, a printing operation that switches to a wash solvent with a flashpoint above 140°F may continue to refer to an outdated waste determination that characterizes the spent solvent as ignitable (i.e., flashpoint below 140°F). This mischaracterization of waste can affect a hazardous waste generator’s regulatory status. Over-classification of waste as hazardous could result in a facility operating under more regulatory requirements than necessary while under-classification could result in a facility not operating in compliance with the required regulation of their actual generator status, not to mention creating hazards for workers and others. A thorough understanding of the waste determination process is the first step in building a structurally sound waste management program.
There are five key steps in the waste determination process which include:
Identify all waste streams.
Determine whether each waste stream is a solid waste.
Determine if each solid waste is excluded from regulation as a hazardous waste.
Determine whether each solid waste is a hazardous waste.
Document the information and decisions made in steps 1-4.
The waste determination process falters when any of the steps are skipped or misinterpreted. Early in the determination process, confusion about what meets the definition of a solid waste can lead to an incorrect waste determination. This step is important because if the material in question is not solid waste, it cannot be hazardous waste. Note that the definition of solid waste does not refer to the physical form of the waste. A “solid” waste can be a solid, liquid or containerized gas.
Another challenge can arise when researching the hazards of a waste by relying on Safety Data Sheets (SDS). For example, while conducting a waste determination for a spent developer, the SDS for the developer is reviewed. The SDS indicates that the pH of the developer is 13. With this information, the printing operation assumes that the spent developer also has a pH above 12.5, and the spent developer is characterized as a corrosive hazardous waste. This determination process fails to consider that the pH of the spent developer may be lower than the pH identified on the SDS for the unused product. When using a calibrated pH meter to conduct representative sampling it is discovered that the pH of the spent developer is below 12.5. In fact, this waste stream is not a corrosive hazardous waste.
Keeping waste determinations up-to-date is challenging when process changes that can affect the waste streams are not evaluated or documented well. When contemplating a change, a best management practice would be to keep the person responsible for compliance in the loop to ensure that waste determinations continue to be accurate. For example, if the pressroom elects to switch to a solvent wash with a lower flashpoint, the possible health and safety implications need to be weighed prior to the change and a waste determination will need to occur that takes the change into account. It is difficult to implement a successful a waste management program when waste streams change or emerge without the knowledge of compliance personnel.
To strengthen the waste determination process, there are several resources available. For a detailed discussion of the waste determination and recordkeeping process, refer to the guidance document: Waste Determinations & Recordkeeping (wi.gov) A detailed resource for printing operations continues to be the Printers | | Wisconsin DNR , which outlines environmental compliance and sustainability resources specific to the printing industry. A recent addition to the portal includes a fillable waste determination checklist. While completion of the checklist is not a regulatory requirement, it provides a helpful tool to clearly document and communicate the determinations for each waste stream. Additionally, it is recommended that facilities retain the evaluation and associated documents for all waste determinations regardless of whether the waste is determined to be hazardous or non-hazardous.
An accurate and complete set of waste determinations provides a solid foundation for the proper management of hazardous waste, and the correct identification of the applicable requirements. Facilities enjoy the benefits of improved occupational safety and environmental health outcomes, and the resulting efficiencies provide cost savings.
The PDF can be downloaded:
https://aimcal.sharefile.com/d-se6924f2bd6ce4b799dac922d552d3198

The APTech “Brand Owners Council” seeks your input.

The GAA-committee has a representative who attends the “Brand Owners Council” monthly meetings as an observer and reports back hot topic issues to our membership and to answer questions concerning the Gravure Printing Process.

The Council announced in January they are looking for “Brand Owner Graphic and Printing Representatives” to join other BO professionals on the Brand Owners Council.
The following is Brand Owner Council Scope and Mission statements:
Brand Owner Council Group: Scope Statement
To endorse brand requirements and deliver documents that brand owners can provide to their supply chain that align to published standards and best practices following the requirements as stated in ISO 19303-1 Graphic technology — Guidelines for schema development for packaging.
This includes the development of a schema for supply chain partners and additional documents as needed for the brand and supply chain.
Members participate in revising Standards and Specifications that are used by the packaging supply chain.
APTech to provide current market research and data to verify or change the scope as needed.

Brand Owner Council Group: Mission Statement
To provide a forum for a brand owners (users) group to discuss and develop best practices that will align their business partners with a common methodology to deliver consistent design intent on packaging.
To empower brand owners to contribute to the development of standards that improve communication across their suppliers.

To benefit printers and measurement equipment manufacturers by saving them time and resources by providing requirements and evaluation criteria spelled out in a common fashion by their customers (the CPCs).
If you know a Brand Owner Graphic and Printing representative that would benefit from the group, have them contact:
The Brand Owners Council facilitators:
Debbie Orf, Association for PRINT Technologies Senior Director, ICC and Standards dorf@aptech.org debbie@innovatisgroup.com
Steve Smiley, SmileyColor & Associates Steve@smileycolor.com

Wisconsin Printing Industry Council Promotes: Label Producers Sustainability Webinar

The Wisconsin Printing Industry Council is teaming up with TLMI as part of the WI Green Tier Printing Charter, a cooperative agreement with the DNR and printing trade associations to promote a Webinar to learn about “The Association of Plastic Recyclers’ Meets Preferred Guidance Program for Labels”. Program for Labels Webinar is on Mar 29, 2023 1:00 PM EDT
APR’s Meet Preferred Guidance program can save label converters money and time on testing and get labels that enable plastic recycling to market quickly. With EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) legislation pending in many states, brands are asking for labels that are not detrimental to plastic recycling. The knowledge you will gain from this webinar is something you will want to add to your sustainability toolbox.
Please register for All About The Association of Plastic Recyclers’ Meets Preferred Guidance Program for Labels at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/647819485687348573
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar from TLMI (TLMI is the webinar organizer). GAA-Committee of the Association for Roll-To-Roll Converters is a supporter of the WI Printing Industry Council.

Going forward from the February 2023 issue of EPA’s Asbestos and Small Business Ombudsman’s (ASBO) monthly bulletin, the SmallBiz@EPA will feature a new look and email delivery method that we’re very excited about. The new ASBO bulletin will make it easier for you to learn about EPA’s events, rulemakings, trainings, and other environmental information of interest to the small business community. These improvements are in response to the readership feedback shared with us.
The updated bulletin will be delivered to your email inbox via Mailchimp, an HTML-based email delivery service. You’ll see the full newsletter right in the body of the email, so no more clicking on a PDF to read each issue. Each issue should resize automatically based on the device you’re using to read it, making it easier to read articles on your phone. And using Mailchimp will allow you to manage your own subscription preferences.
To ensure that the bulletin reaches your inbox each month we are asking that you add the ASBO email address, asbo@epa.gov, to your email contacts. This should alert your email software that this is from a trusted email contact and not an unwanted spam message.

The Online “Entry Level Technician” Course Available!

This course continues to be very popular with members and non-members. The ELT course contains 10 modules covering Pressroom Safety, Gravure Process Strengths and Distinctions, Gravure Market Segments, Print Station Components, Doctor Blades, Inks and best practices, Web Basics (Unwind-Splice-Outfeed), Web (Tension-Temperature-Treatments), Registration Fundamentals and Pre & Makeready practices. ELT also contains 13 recorded presentations from Gravure Seminars and conferences. All GAA-Committee online courses along with the Gravure textbooks are all available at www.aimcal.org, click on “Resources” tab, then pick “Products” from the dropdown. You will also see all the training courses and other products that are offered by AIMCAL.

The GAA Committee reviewed the plans for the Basic and Advanced Seminars and planning has started the seminars to be offered next year. The Basic and Advanced “live” Seminars will be held at Interprint in Pittsfield, MA in 2024.

Golden Cylinder Awards will be presented in 2024.

The next Golden Cylinder Awards presentation ceremony will be at the 2024 Business Summit. The entry forms will be available soon with the entry dead line of January 31^st, 2024. In moving the awards to the “Business Meeting” did not allow enough time to hold a 2023 competition. We encourage all to participate as the prestige for the Golden Cylinder continues to grow.

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 AIMCAL website: (Jobs (aimcal.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)

With the association new name also comes with new email addresses:
Chris Kerscher (Executive Director): ckerscher@rolltoroll.org
Tim Janes (Membership Outreach Director): tjanes@rolltoroll.org
Kevin Lifsey (Senior Web Developer): klifsey@rolltoroll.org
Mark Spaulding (Associate Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Converting Quarterly): mspaulding@rolltoroll.org
Laure Lavore (Office Manager): llavore@rolltoroll.org
Lauren Suber (Event and Program Manager): lsuber@rolltoroll.org
Alex Nevels (Director of Education): anevels@rolltoroll.org
The AIMCAL addresses will be active until September 2023.
Anyone interested in having their company become a member of this dynamic
association of companies that are promoting the Gravure process,
please go to Become a Member | AIMCAL
Questions? Contact AIMCAL Member Outreach Director Tim Janes at tjanes@rolltoroll.org

Next Page »

GravurExchange Newsletter – August 2023

GravurExchange Newsletter – July 2023

GravurExchange Newsletter – May 2023

GravurExchange Newsletter – April 2023

GravurExchange Newsletter – March 2023

GravurExchange Newsletter – February 2023

Save the Dates: May 16^th-18^th,2023

“Business Summit”

“Innovation & Design”

For the Latest Member News go to:

For the Latest Member Announcements go to:

For upcoming Roll-to-Roll Events go to:

Subscribe to the AIMCAL Newsletter

News

Save the Dates: May 16th-18th ,2023

“Business Summit”

“Innovation & Design”

For the Latest Member News go to:

For the Latest Member Announcements go to:

For upcoming Roll-to-Roll Events go to:

Save the Dates: May 16^th-18^th,2023