Printing factory to reduce paper waste considerations

“A lot of printers don’t keep a detailed record of paper waste or haven’t recorded it at all. We were very surprised,” Mr. Lampatter said. “The paper should be recorded after the purchase of printing paper, and the use of paper, waste paper, and waste paper should be tracked. This is a simple statistical management of the material. If there is no reference, it will not be formulated to reduce paper. Wasteful effective management plan."

There should be a waste paper account

Tom Hardy, Prograph management system manufacturing company, said: “The printer should have a waste paper account and follow up on the disposal of waste paper. The printer should know what the total amount of waste paper is, and what causes the waste, such as the volume Paper breakage, blanket cleaning, mechanical failure, etc."

Solution: Make full use of the printing equipment management software. It also cooperated with the web supplier to effectively use the electronic data interchange system to track down the problems reported to the paper mill by each paper roll on the printing press. The counting system was operating normally.

Help employees raise awareness

Do not overlook the importance of skilled workers in the printing shop. Mr. Daniel Clarke, director of the printing shop at the Rochester Institute of Technology, said: “The basic knowledge of typographical must be mastered.” Mr. Clarke also praised the automatic operator and the pre-mastering device of the pre-alarm device. Over-reliance on the machine, "What if the machine fails?" he asked. “Still master some basic printing techniques.” Mr. Bill Orndorff, head of the printing supplies department at Perry Judds (Strasbo, VA), said: “The company’s employees should be made aware of the value of the paper and know the 1/4 inch scratches. How much damage will result. A rubber-sized hole can destroy 70-100 pounds of webs with different widths."

Mr. Ferry Choate, Manager of Equipment Department of Banta Publishing Group (Greenfield, Missouri), added: “We launched our staff’s advice and suggestions. We said to him, 'Last year was the preparation of the adjustment. We plan to do so this year. "We asked them for advice." The Banta Publishing Group held a study class to explain changes in the production process to employees, and management personnel went deep into the print shop for on-site management.

Solution: Write down all the preparation steps of the tuning machine. Use the video recorder to record the preparation process of the tuning machine to see what improvements have been made. Attention should be paid to checking all the parts of the job before starting the machine. The most important thing is to let the staff understand that the quality problem can not be emphasized for a time, should always be unremitting, continuous improvement, and employees must also actively participate in, always pay attention to the progress made.

Avoid high-speed machine preparation

First of all, check the speed of the machine preparation. Mr. George A. Sanchez, Mitsubishi’s sales manager for web offset presses in North America, explained: “When the printing press speeds up to a predetermined speed, the ink system must maintain a good balance, which is very important for reducing waste. However, some printers can't mention the 10% print speed to 80-90% during normal printing, because the ink balance will change as the speed increases, so they can only gradually increase the speed.

Mr. Ron Bartell, product manager of the Heidelberg web press division, added: “Some operators do not consider spending time to achieve the best balance of ink and water, but instead turn the machine at high speed, often wasting more paper.”

Solution: Work with equipment suppliers to make the best use of the press.

Establish a new concept of wet processing

Mr. Joe Abbot, Head of Technical Support at Mann Rolland, said that the lower temperature of the wetting fluid helps reduce waste. “Studies have shown that when the temperature is approximately 60 degrees Fahrenheit (or less), the occurrence of blanket buildup can be reduced, and the number of blanket cleanings can be reduced to reduce waste.”

Installing a filter device can also play a role. Mr Abbot recommends installing a return filter on the dampening circulator (filtration holes 25 microns or less). This can remove fine ink particles that sink into the ink when the alcohol wetting fluid touches the ink, otherwise these fine particles will fall on the non-graphic parts of the wet roller or blanket, causing shutdown, resulting in waste.

Avoid tension loss

Mr. Sanchez advocated that from the paper feeding to the cooling, the paper path of the web until the folding device requires the use of a reliable tension control system. Tension control in place prevents web breaks, misalignment misalignments, and cutting size errors.

Remedy: Always maintain the printer and analyze why the printer has stopped.

Optimize the diameter of the roll

Mr. Orndorff said: “If we can work with a uniform outer diameter, specifically 50 inches, we will further reduce waste.” The current major obstacle is the limitations of existing equipment. Mr. Orndorff explained that two of the nine printers at Perry Judds' printing plant in Strasbourg could not use paper rolls with an outer diameter of 50 inches. In order to ensure that the job is transferred from one printing press to another, the printing industry always uses a paper roll with an outer diameter of 45 inches. But Mr. Orndorff was optimistic about the 50-inch standard paper roll. He said: "Time has been encouraging its printers to do this and we are also moving in this direction."

Remedy: Work with web suppliers and equipment manufacturers to use large outside diameter paper rolls.

Reduce the number of binding cuts

Mr. Bartell said: “Now we have a seamless press, so binding and trimming will become another important part of saving paper. If the binding equipment can be improved, the same type of printing press can print more large-scale painting, surface The pages, because it is no longer necessary to trim the non-graphical blanks. Even on ordinary printing presses, the print size can be increased by reducing the trimming size."

Mr. Batrell believes that in many cases the problem is not with the equipment, but with the staff of the bindery factory. They want to cut off 3/16 inch paper edges for reasons of convenience, but sometimes only cut off. 1/8 inch paper edge on the line. This requires everyone to work together to solve the problems they face.

Solution: Efforts are being made to strengthen Hantong and cooperation between printing and binding plants.

Regular maintenance of the equipment

Mark Kraft, Deputy General Manager of Nationwide Graphics (Chicago) responsible for sales, recommends that the auxiliary equipment, including the cooling roller unit and the paper cutter, be regularly checked and maintained. "On older equipment, they could easily cause paper waste. Belt drives and coordinated braking devices replace worn gears and outdated controls to reduce waste and increase printing speed."

Solution: Maintain the equipment on a regular basis and enter the process and results into the computer.

Make full use of paper

Improve the quality of paper handling and storage, control paper temperature and humidity, detect all consumables, and then start printing. Mr. Bartell suggested installing a web take-up device equipped with a detection system to prevent over-cutting of the web. Be careful when handling it, and do not forget to protect the printed signature.

Solution: Negotiate with the web supplier and the press operator to work out the operating standards and reduce paper waste.

Evaluate new technologies

When you have decided to purchase or plan to purchase new equipment, you should understand how much technology today can help your business. Taking a printing machine as an example, it should have a higher computer-to-plate alignment accuracy and ink supply preset accuracy. A better quality online color management system and an easy-to-use folding machine adjustment device. Also consider various control systems with CIP3 operating functions.

Reproduced from: Wins