Technology has changed the landscape of manufacturing. Now that computers and technology have penetrated the flexographic industry, automation has become a competitive advantage in today’s manufacturing world, whether it’s simply upgrading an old press with new controls or a large investment into robotics to streamline a certain function of the overall process.
The pace at which companies have adopted new technologies has been nothing short of relentless, and that has fueled continued innovation and advancements. This will continue to be true of automation: Automation has or will soon be a determining factor in whether or not a company can remain competitive within the flexographic industry.
Automation and technology can sometimes be viewed in a negative light. This isn’t always warranted. Automation can be the adoption of a new technology that contains features and benefits to streamline production and/or facilitate better control over the printing process.
Safe & Sustainable
Here’s an example: Laser-based technologies are replacing antiquated liquid processes in industries around the world. In flexography, lasers can provide repeatability, make working conditions safer and reduce lead times. Laser anilox cleaning technologies, such as the Sitexco Laser Anilox Cleaning System (for which we received a 2018 FTA Technical Innovation Award), encompass cutting-edge software that tracks the entire anilox inventory directly from an integrated computer. This, for many printers, cuts down on one step in their current cleaning process.
Laser anilox cleaning technologies can also create a safer work environment by eliminating the need to handle caustic chemicals and having to dispose of them. This not only creates a safer work environment for operators and anyone walking the pressroom floor, but also reduces the number of these harmful chemicals being introduced into the environment—truly a safe and sustainable technology.
By virtue of omitting caustic chemicals, a laser anilox cleaner does not need to be quarantined to a remote corner of a pressroom. The machine can be placed near the printing press, cutting down on the handling of anilox rolls, the ground operators need to cover over the course of a shift and, in general, streamlining the entire cleaning process. This results in greater control over the print process and assures more consistency in print quality.
The Power to Delegate
An argument can be put forth that there is a social value in automating operations that are routine, boring and fatiguing—look at the shift across the automotive industry from manual transmissions to automatic gear shifting.
Photo courtesy of Eaglewood Technologies
However, unlike that world, where there is a small but devoted group of “purists” who still prefer to shift gears themselves, you’re unlikely to find a press operator longing for the days of manually logging every detail of every anilox roll. Automating tasks such as anilox roll maintenance and auditing not only assures quicker press makereadies, but also eliminates the need for an employee to input that information into an Excel spreadsheet.
Machines like the Sitexco Laser Anilox Cleaning System can automatically track each roll in a printer’s inventory and enable an operator to search through its records to see, for example, each time a specific roll has been deep cleaned. The operator can also integrate a digital microscope—whether it be an AniCAM from Troika Systems or MicroDynamics scope—and complete roll audits directly from the unit’s touchscreen. Now, rather than simply having an anilox roll cleaning machine, you have a fully integrated inventory management tool. This not only automates the process but streamlines it to cut down on unnecessary steps for management of these critical tools.
Smarts
The “smarts” in a laser anilox cleaning system that enable it to track inventory go a step further. The remote access capabilities of a networked system allow for technicians to access any machine in the world to run diagnostics, troubleshoot and download software updates. This guarantees machine uptime and saves a printer time and money, all while improving productivity downstream.
Following the downstream all the way to the end, automation doesn’t just simplify or increase process control, but it can also improve print quality. Knowing whenever a roll goes into the press that it will perform exactly as it did the first day it was removed from the crate is a powerful feeling. Press uptime is improved, better quality print is more easily achieved, and press run speeds are more easily attained, all while minimizing scrap and ink waste.
A converter should be sure to complete exhaustive due diligence when choosing automated cleaning technologies. All systems are not created 
with the same intelligent engineering. It is imperative the manufacturer has years of experience with lasers as well as the engineering capabilities to control the laser precisely with the appropriate software package.
About the Author: Peter J. Mulheran is vice president and general manager at Eaglewood Technologies, winner of a 2018 FTA Technical Innovation Award for its Sitexco Laser Anilox Cleaning System.
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