Ample Industries and Its New Screen Truepress Jet L350UV Deliver on Promises, Flexo or Digital

Narrow web, wide format, digital print, 1-color to 10-color—Ample Industries Inc of Springfield, MO does it all! It prints on paper, metalized paper, foil, extruded foam, clear and white film, tags and plastics. Order quantities are both large and small. Capabilities are state of the art. Production is quick and cost effective.

Speed, flexibility and affordability are stressed. Promotional runs, multiple versions, demanding production times—It’s all part of being a full service, multiprocess label provider where need is matched to application and determines the press that represents the “best fit.” Here, flexo and digital lines have long existed side by side.

Cutting-edge technology stands out everywhere on the pressroom floor. At this 50-year-old family business, David Menzies, the president and founder, insists it will always be that way. The strategy, complemented by personalized service, has worked well from 1968 through present day. It results in what Ample’s 60 team members describe as outstanding print quality that is achieved on every shift (there are two) every day.

The company supports national, international and regional customers and provides custom and specialty labels for food, beverage, wine, pharmaceuticals and supplements. According to its vice president and David’s daughter, Natalie Spradlin, “Over the past several years, we recognized an increasing need for a quality digital label printing solution with the versatility and speed to meet the fast turnaround and quality needs of our growing customer base.”

Bringing vision to life, Ample Industries integrated digital into its production floor over the past 10 years through several purchases. All were considered state of the art for the time. Technology, however, continued to march forward, prompting Ample’s most recent press acquisition. In December 2017, the printer brought in a Screen Truepress Jet L350UV with 15 printheads.

“We know that the future is inkjet,” Natalie explains, stressing that robust innovations in quality, coupled with advances in speed and performance, have moved the bar higher for inkjet technology.

Press Features & Functions

Describing the new asset, she notes, “The technology is impressive. It’s fast. Print quality is above and beyond our previous digital experience. And it’s easy to use,” she adds. “We needed a solution that could hit our quality targets, meet the short-to-medium run job needs and get them done quickly.” Peak printing speed is 164 fpm (173.2 sq. ft. of printed labels).

“Digital presses are designed perfectly for short runs,” Natalie observes. “A job can be set up in 10 minutes. The waste is only about 5 percent of the run. Each repeat run is identical, assuming the art file hasn’t changed.” She continues, “Tension varies with the width of the stock, but the software is capable of handling different values. Because it is digital, there is no washup, and every image is perfect.”

Expanding on some points, she maintains, “Cleanup and maintenance are very minimal for the operator, who needs to only perform daily printhead cleaning functions. There is significantly less operator interaction with the printheads than we have experienced with previous inkjet presses. The operator simply wipes down the rubber head cleaning mechanism and then runs the press through the automated head cleaning system. Then, the heads are uncapped for physical inspection. If something needs to be wiped off, lint-free wipes are deployed to remove any visible debris. It only takes about 20 minutes to perform this task each morning.”

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”Natalie Spradlin, vice president at Ample Industries” link=”” color=”#dfcdac” class=”” size=””]”We are utilizing the press for longer runs than anticipated… It makes sense to run a difficult job that happens to entail a bit more footage than you normally consider to be a candidate for a digital press, on the digital press.”[/perfectpullquote]

Natalie further indicates, “The compact footprint of the new digital press minimizes the number of steps necessary for the operator to perform each function and reduces the amount of space the press takes up on the production floor.”

She points out, “Operators need to be computer savvy. An intuitive touchscreen interface makes it easy for someone with limited experience in print to learn.” Then adds, “The press is low maintenance and extremely user-friendly. Once the base operation is mastered, it is easy to run.”

Evaluation & Installation

Recalling steps taken in identifying the new digital solution, Natalie states, “We supplied all of the inkjet contenders with files of print jobs that cause the most pain—ringers. One particular ‘ringer’ file included a process-color, neutral gray gradient that caused color shifts for other manufacturers conducting their press tests. Screen passed all our tests, including the problem gradient file, with flying colors!”

She mentions, “We spent four days doing ICC profiling for about 20 substrates in both paper and film. Additionally, we performed printhead uniformity, print density and printhead alignment tests to calibrate the new press. Training was performed on site and lasted for a week.”

Talking to color management techniques deployed, Natalie offers, “Because we chose a configuration that did not include expanded gamut (EG), we have a Pantone equivalent sample book we printed that simplifies color management. The high-definition UV ink makes it possible to more closely match Pantone colors than we had anticipated.”

Early Experience

“We love the stability of the press!” Natalie exclaims. “During the seven months it has been in operation, we have had only one service call. Phone support, when needed, is quick. We speak to the same support person each time, so he is very familiar with our press and situation.”

She relays, “Customers love the quality and short turn times.” She even admits, “We are utilizing the press for longer runs than anticipated, and pushing the run lengths out longer than originally thought feasible or efficient.” One reason: “Our general manager sees it as much easier to make changes to an art file, rather than making new plates for flexo to meet long run requirements.”

The argument holds, “If you add the time expended mounting plates, performing makeready and then wash up to the length of your flexo runtime, it makes sense to run a difficult job that happens to entail a bit more footage than you normally consider to be a candidate for a digital press, on the digital press.”

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