Pre-Press Room water-based or solvent-based? The packaging industry is constantly increasing quality requirements while at the same time, shortening the time for the execution of subsequent orders. Constant pressure from principals makes every printing house want to have full control over the production process and in every aspect of it. That's why the flexo industry is investing in new technologies, trying to keep up with trends and market requirements. All this is done to stay one step ahead of the competition. Investments, development and changes are aimed at ensuring consistent and repeatable quality while maintaining optimal printing costs. Printers are increasingly investing in their own prepress facilities to be able to fully control the plate preparation process. Also to make the die preparation process more cost-effective, to react quickly to emergency situations and to have better control over print quality.
Independence, cost control, productivity and high print quality
The obvious advantage of making printing plates in-house in the water prepress is precisely the full supervision of quality and process, but also the reduction of waiting time for printing plates. In addition, thanks to the in-house production of printing plates, the printing house is more flexible both in terms of changes in the production schedule. Also, the response time to unforeseen situations such as plate damage or an urgent design change is definitely shorter. For printers considering in-house die manufacturing, Water washable plate is the optimal choice to manage quality, control production while balancing costs with high and repeatable quality and higher productivity.
An investment in a water-based pre-press is more advantageous than a solvent-based one, whose processing lines for photopolymer plates are much more expensive than systems for processing water-based plates. One also has to reckon with tightening regulations on CO2 emissions and reducing the impact of other factors that threaten the environment. Hand in hand with solvent processors must go investment in advanced ventilation systems, vapor boosters, etc. In the case of water-based plates from Japanese company TOYOBO, the solution created from solvent-water, detergent and polymer can mostly be discharged into the sewage system, and the regulations governing this are set by the local wastewater collector. The detergents used in the process, in small amounts, are similar in composition to those used in automatic washers and are one hundred percent environmentally friendly. Consequently, the costs of reducing the environmental impact of production are disproportionately lower than those used in solvent pre-press rooms. The dirty solvent the manufacturer has to distill in order to reuse most of it, the process consumes a large amount of energy which increases CO2 emissions, not to mention the several hour drying process of the solvent polymer.
In-house water pre-press room - in the whole venture of investing in a water pre-press room, the cost of polymer / raw material is not the most important, often behind this cost there are many benefits that can be very significant in the long-term work with the supplier: service, safety, comfort, quality, boothardization of the process, time, and thus...concrete savings.
CtP water pre-press room - how do Print Systems customers evaluate its launch in retrospect?
Digital TOMEX has easier and flexible response to customer needs
"We have chosen, to our knowledge, the optimal solution in terms of technical and economic parameters. The investment in our own preparation room allows us to react faster to incoming orders, especially those with a very short lead time (that is, someone forgot to order). We are able to literally "save" the customer by flexibly adjusting the work schedule. Pre-Press Room waterjet CtP - thanks to this investment we have the ability to invite the customer for a proof with the option to make corrections, e.g. color changes on the spot, at the customer. We have been able to free ourselves from the often-occurring complications of stopping work altogether with damaged polymer. Now the resumption of production has become a matter of tens of minutes, instead of one or two days as before." - said Tomasz Wozniczko, Owner of TOMEX.
With the introduction of CtP technology, TOMEX develops in-house research work. The in-house water pre-press room allows unlimited independent tests, and the conclusions/results of the experiments carried out can be immediately translated into a new polymer or another new test. Such capabilities shorten the research process to one day, without the need to postpone further printing steps.
Duni moved to the water side of power and reduced labor costs
Paweł Leszczyk, Efficiency Manager at Duni, assesses the investment in their own pre-press department, nearly two years after its implementation – “The results of the water-wash CtP pre-press room in Duni are reflected in our hard production data. They indicate a reduction in printing form preparation time by approximately 40%. Each plate comes out correctly the first time without errors, which significantly reduces the amount of waste. The investment has positively influenced the change in work organization in the pre-press department from two shifts to one. This generates significant labor cost savings. Operators appreciate the higher comfort of plate processing. Now it is easier for them to control the entire process, which requires fewer manual operations.” The water-wash CtP pre-press has solved many of the previous production problems.
KIMM gains new customers
After several months of operating with its own CtP equipment, KiMM has managed to reduce plate preparation time by about 40%. Production costs were reduced by the cost of external services and transportation. High quality is now achievable and repeatable, and fully controlled by the owner. "We manage to eliminate even minor errors in a timely manner without increasing the turnaround time of orders. The introduction of CtP technology has resulted in an increase in the number of customers, as the company can carry out the most demanding projects." - says Maciej Mazek, owner of KiMM.
Rolflex values independence
The combination of CtP technology with TOYOBO water-washable polymer plates has increased the efficiency of the plate preparation process and made it possible to achieve high quality while eliminating harmful solvent. According to the owner, the platern and in-house water pre-press room means for ROLFLEX full independence, flexibility and speed of response to the constantly growing expectations of the company's principals.
