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June 2009 — Troika Systems Limited, Highworth, a UK company at the forefront of innovative development for print-based quality control products, has announced the release of a significant enhancement to its AniCAM product, an in-depth measurement tool for anilox rolls used on narrow and wide web and corrugated flexo presses.
Good anilox roll maintenance, measurement and management lies at the heart of what flexo printers require to ensure the minimum of press downtime. To date there has been no really effective product to help printers to solve these issues. “Most flexo printers know that good anilox measurement and management is the logical move towards a healthier balance sheet,” said Phil Hall. “Poor management of a printer’s anilox inventory is a guaranteed way to increase press downtime. A significant percentage of print problems in the flexo sector are down to anilox roll issues, and with press time costing typically 400 Euro’s per hour, it doesn’t take too many anilox problems causing density variations or job re-runs to show how cost effective an investment in anilox measurement and management with an AniCAM can be.”
The latest enhancement has led to the company releasing two versions of the specialist camera-based unit, AniCAM-P and AniCAM-M. The two new variants are targeted at specific markets – AniCAM-P for flexographic print producers and AniCAM-M for anilox roll manufacturers. “Our research and our experiences with the first generation of AniCAM product has shown us that the requirements of anilox manufacturers differ slightly from printers needs,” said Phil Hall, Managing Director of Troika Systems.
With regard to the anilox roll manufacturers, Troika already has 19 of the 40+ suppliers worldwide using its AniCAM products. The new AniCAM-M product provides many additional features, including the ability to read more complex engravings such as trihelical, emerald and HVP, as well as “Press-O-Film” aluminium foil cell profiling materials.
No Worldwide Standard
“Perhaps the most significant enhancement for manufacturers, however, is our ability to be compatible with their current system of measurement,” states Phil Hall. To explain this statement one needs to appreciate that there is no universal system for measuring anilox rolls. Manufacturers have historically developed their own standards. Phil Hall explains further: “As the number of anilox manufacturers grew over time, so anilox measurement evolved. Each manufacturer adopted the method of measurement they knew best and could afford. Consequently there is often a large difference in ink released from rolls from different manufacturers, despite the rolls being marked up as having the same volume.”
Troika conducted its own research into these issues back in 2007. It took an anilox roll with 12 bands (from 40 lpcm – 480 lpcm) to 15 anilox manufacturers in Europe and North America where the manufactures were asked to measure the bands using their standard method of measurement. “The results were stunning. We found the minimum variation on one of the bands was 27% and the most extreme band had a 141% volume variation,” explains Phil Hall. “This makes life particularly difficult for the manufacturer of anilox volume measurement tools, as each anilox manufacturer will, of course, defend its own standard of measurement and will not want to change the standard which they may have used over the past 5, 10 or 15 years. Our solution is to calibrate the new AniCAM-M to translate readings to any manufacturer’s standard. This means that roll suppliers can either translate AniCAM readings to their own internal system, or use our standard readings. This will help us to overcome a major objection.”
AniCAM-P for Printers
Effective anilox roll management has the potential to save a flexo printer a significant amount of press downtime. Measuring and archiving volume readings for each roll helps to monitor cleaning issues as well as wear of the roll – both major causes of press downtime. By reducing machine downtime by just 2% the owner of three presses running double-day shift could save over €300,000 over a three year period – significantly more than the €10,350 investment that would be required to purchase the AniCAM-P.
“We currently have in excess of 150 installations of our original AniCAM products, and believe that our new enhanced system will appeal to a good number of new customers,” said Phil Hall. “The important thing for the printer is to take the guesswork out of problem situations. If you know that the anilox is doing what it should do, then that reduces the potential problem areas within the press significantly. Certainly printers that are already using the original AniCAM product appreciate the savings that they have been able to make, and the more efficient printing service that they have been able to provide for their customers.”
Wider Market
Whilst AniCAM-P will be targeted initially at the flexographic printing sector, many lithographic printers may also find a need for this solution. The majority of high-performance coating units on litho presses are based on a flexo printing system. Printings with a keen eye for the quality and consistency of coating should be measuring their anilox rolls. In addition to this a number of recent press introductions, including the Heidelberg Anicolor and KBA’s Cortina, Karat and Rapida G machines, incorporate anilox rollers within their inking system. “Such developments need a quality control solution, and AniCAM-P offers the ability to measure the important detail on such machines,” concluded Phil Hall.
For further information on Troika Systems quality control products visit the www.troika-systems.com web site.
Source: Troika Press Release
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