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August 2009 — Troika Systems Limited, Highworth, a UK company at the forefront of innovative development for print-based quality control products, has detailed how the recent release of its significantly enhanced AniCAM-P product, an in-depth measurement tool for anilox rolls used on narrow and wide web and corrugated flexo presses, can also provide great assistance for very many litho printers.
Whilst AniCAM-P is being targeted initially at the flexographic printing sector, many lithographic printers may also find significant benefits from the product. The majority of high-performance coating units on litho presses are based on a flexographic printing unit. Printers with a keen eye for the quality and consistency of coating should be regularly measuring the anilox volume laterally and managing their roll inventory to ensure optimum performance.
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,” said Phil Hall, Managing Director of Troika Systems.
“Delivering consistent, quality coating on a litho press with a modern coating unit requires a reasonable level of flexographic process understanding,” said Phil Hall. “Poor cleaning and maintenance of the anilox roll within a coating unit will significantly impair its performance, and subsequently the quality of coating produced by the machine. Errors introduced to a job at the coating stage, when the job is virtually complete, can be the most costly of all. At the very least, machine manufacturers technical staff should be equipped with an AniCAM-P in order to aid efficient fault finding.”
For presses utilising anilox rolls within the inking system, Phil Hall sees the AniCAM-P as essential tool for the printer to maintain quality. “Whilst it is a litho system that is delivering the ink to the substrate, any company working with a machine that utilises an anilox roll for inking needs to understand the potential problems of this component. Poor cleaning – which can occur even when using an automated cleaning system – can lead to a build up of ink within the anilox cell, thus reducing its capacity to transfer ink effectively. Unless the printer or his engineer understands these potential problems, and is equipped to test for such errors, they could be spending an awful lot of time and money searching for a solution to an ink density problem in all of the wrong places.”
AniCAM-P for Printers
Effective anilox roll management has the potential to save a litho or flexo printer a significant amount of press downtime, plus the real-world costs incurred in reprinting a job that was virtually complete. 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 flexo 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. Similar savings can be expected in busy litho print businesses where anilox rolls are employed within the press inking system.
For further information on Troika Systems quality control products visit the www.troika-systems.com web site.
Source: Troika Systems Release
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