When I traveled to Chicago for this year's Graph Expo show, i was determined to see what the show offered in terms of environmental control equipment. To my surprise, considering the previous shows for many years, there was little to see that related to the environment. Only a few booths had solvent recovery and water treatment equipment; only one small booth had a posterior an oxidizer for air emissions control. However, from the perspective of sustainability, there was much to see.
Quite evident were developments in technology that addressed the need to reduce or eliminate causes of waste and air emissions, as well as for the handling of such wastes that are inevitable. Although not a stated objective of the show as a whole, the subject of sustainability was prominent in the conferences, and on the show floor.
The conference program featured Gary Jones of PIA/GATF speaking on "Roadmaps to Sustainability." Jones discussed the elements of sustainability as they pertain to printers and the program initiated by the printing industry associations to certify sustainable printers. Supporting the objectives of his talk were a number of presentations on color management, lean manufacturing, quality management, and digital printing - all components of any program established by printers to achieve sustainability.
Most evident on the floor was the strong presence of radiation curable inks and coatings and the technology to cure the inks on press. Radiation curable formulations have long been prevalent in coating for the lithographer. With the introduction of UV curable inks, printers can avoid the emission of solvents used for traditional litho inks, as well as the waste of materials and time incurred in setting up a job and cleaning up at the end of a job or the end of the working day. UV inks do not cure until they are exposed to the proper lamps.
Eighteen companies were listed under UV equipment and components; 17 more were included as suppliers of UV curing inks. Companies such as Prime UV, Honle UV of America, Grafix, and Air Motion Systems exhibited curing systems for both sheetfed and web presses. INX, Nazdar, Toyo Ink America, and Van Son Holland exhibited their UV ink systems. Quality and speed were stressed by all, as well as minimization of press waste.
The wide-format area had inkjet digital presses from Agfa, Mimaki, and HP among others that employed UV curable inks. Coupled with laser die cutting equipment from Gerber, the production of point of purchase displays has become energy efficient, while reducing emissions and waste. Here again the results have been noted to be higher speeds with direct printing on specialty media, replacing the solvent inks that have been traditionally used for these applications.
Of major consequence was the Agfa booth. With the change in photographic imaging from film to digital, here was one of the major film suppliers in the world embracing inkjet digital technology in wide-format roll and sheetfed applications and in their Dotrix narrow web press. The line of :Anapurna wideformat presses use UV curable inks in inkjet applicators, with high-resolution capability to print top quality images on rolls of various substrates or in a flatbed operation on pa perboard, corrugated or plastic sheets.
Mimaki exhibited its roll-to-roll wideformat printer and a sheetfed press for printing of posters, fabrics, billboards, and point-of-purchase displays. This exhibit also included a direct digital color proofing press for gravure and flexographic printers. All applications used UV curable inks.
Topping off the printing applications was the laser cutting and routing systems exhibited by Gerber. Capable of cutting out odd shaped images such as figures of athletes and beauty queens, as well as circles and rectangles, it is a versatile and productive finishing solution for wide format printing and graphics. The larger model has a maximum overall dimension of 103x148 inches, and will actively cut within an area of 75x120 inches.
The use of UV curable inks and curing systems was evident throughout the show.
Prime UV of Chicago exhibited its new Perfection dryers, which cure UV inks at up to 3,000 fpm, designed for web presses. Eliminating the heat set ovens slashes natural gas consumption and the air emissions that result from the drying of solvent-based ink systems. The curing systems can be set up for between color curing and dry trapping of colors, or for a wet trap with the UV curing system after the final press station.
Air Motion Systems promoted its new P3 UV system with a reduced energy curing feature. The geometry of the system reflects maximum energy from a single lamp through two parabolic reflectors for a double hit of UV curing power onto the printing surface. This enables their system to cure at top speeds using 45 percent less power.
With these developments that promote sustainability, the printer will have tools that will not only make for a more responsible impact on the environment and health of the community, but will open doors for a broader offering of product to customers. The result will not only be savings in energy and wastes, but increased profitability from more lucrative markets.
