The first of its kind in North America, the new BentLine technology uses two separate machines, one for flexo printing and a second for die-cutting, that operate as one unit.
BentLine technology, which is claimed to be a whole new approach to the printing and die-cutting of corrugated packaging materials, was recently implemented at Advance Packaging Corp. in Grand Rapids, MI.
The traditional approach to converting corrugated sheets is an in-line one. You position a sheet-fed printing press directly in front of a die cutting system so that each sheet of corrugated is die cut as soon as it is printed. What Advance has done by adding the BentLine Technology to its already impressive corrugating plant is to separate the two operations to allow for the press to focus on the printing aspect alone while not having to possibly reduce speed due to being in-line with the capabilities of an in-line die cutter. Also, the conveyor connection that takes stacks of printed board to the die cutter includes a number of right-angle turns and can hold up to nearly a full truck load of units in between these presses. That`s one reason Advance refers to this as [BentLine" (as opposed to in-line) technology. The other driver behind the name is that the firm believes it is [bending the cost curve" through innovation by performing at unprecedented speeds, delivering quicker turnaround, and improving speed to market-all this while improving on print quality.
According to David Straten, Director of Graphic Packaging at Advance, [By getting away from an in-line printing and die-cutting approach we are able to concentrate fully on doing the best printing job we can possibly do without letting the requirements of the die cutter interfere. Then, separately, we concentrate on doing the best die cutting possible without letting the requirements of printing interfere. Why let your inks dry out or have your printing plates be negatively affected in any way at all due to a problem on a downstream and in-line die-cutter? With this arrangement, no matter what happens in the die-cutting area, we just keep right on printing. Similarly, we can accumulate stacks of printed corrugated that will keep the die-cutter occupied while we ready the press for a new job. If this were a conventional in-line operation, if either printer or die cutter are down, then both are down."
Scott Wilcox, VP of Sales & Marketing at Advance, says the rated speed on the new printing press, 10,000 sheets/hr, is already exceeding the same job previously run on the seven-color Goepfert flexo press already operating in the plant. [We currently don`t come close to achieving 10,000 per hour on the seven-color because we need time to clean the plates or perform preventive maintenance. But because of all of the downtime that is associated with printing or diecutting, if anything goes wrong with either process, the entire operation needs to stop. In our BentLine approach, where the press is good for 10,000 sheets per hour and the die cutter 7,000, we can queue up several hours of printed sheets that will keep the die cutter operating steadily while the press receives maintenance or has the plates cleaned or undergoes make-ready for a new print run."
The eight-color Ovation flexo press in the new BentLine comes from Goepfert, and the Mastercut 2.1 platen die cutter is from Bobst. The press is notable in that it is the first eight-color Goepfert Ovation installed in North America. The pre-feeder and vacuum lead-edge feeder both use belts instead of friction rolls, which eliminates marks on the surface linerboard when coated papers are being printed. An optional sheet cleaner removes dust from the sheet prior to printing. The high-end inking system with chamber
doctor blade and ceramic
anilox roll ensures excellent print quality, says Goepfert, while the tool-less doctor blade clamping system makes maintenance easy for operators.
Responding to customer demand The Ovation press also uses an Auto-lock plate mounting system with motorized angular plate adjustment for near perfect registration. [Kiss-touch print is made possible as the anilox
Roll and impression
Cylinder gap can be precisely set in one-hundredth increments," says Goepfert CEO Andre Goepfert. [Smaller jobs and fast-turnaround times are key to satisfying customer demand experienced by Advance Packaging. Machine automation, like the automatic anilox-roll change system, make fast turnaround possible and offer the greatest possible flexibility. Within less than five minutes, all flexo printing units can be re-equipped with one of four different anilox rolls stored within the machine at the push of a button. There is no need to plan production depending on the required printing screen. IR dryers seamlessly integrated into the Ovation ensure excellent print results and performance. The Ink Conditioning System controls ink viscosity, temperature, and pH, which is vital for consistent print quality."
