AV Flexologic Enables Robotic Prepress with RoboCell

AV Flexologic has been honored with a prestigious FTA Technical Innovation Award (in the Heavy Metal category) for the second time.

Its groundbreaking RoboCELL technology is earning high praise for virtually full automation and elimination of manual intervention in an area of the plant that previously demanded considerable manual skill, time, and practice—prepress and plate mounting.

RoboCELL, a patented robotic solution, revolutionizes the sleeve and mounting workflow by seamlessly integrating tape application (RoboTAPE), sleeve handling (RoboSLEEVE), and plate mounting (FAMM 3.0) technologies. RoboTAPE, RoboSLEEVE and RoboCELL work in tandem to deliver the primary advantage of RoboCELL’s technical achievements: the complete elimination of the labor-intensive manual process of taping, sleeve handling and plate mounting.

RoboCELL reduces the entire tape and mounting process time. A 10-color job can be completed in less than 30 minutes, compared to 1.5 hours required with a manual process. Operators appreciate the efficiencies delivered, especially the benefit of affording them an opportunity to work on more highly skilled, intricate tasks.

Clear Advantages

Robotic prepress workflow advantages reflect significant labor and quality savings. Highlights include:

• Eliminating sleeve damage and operator strain-related injuries
• No air bubbles and overlaps
• No sleeve damage and cutting
• Zero operator-related press downtime
• Zero tape waste due to spiral taping
• The mounting and taping process is completed in one-third of the traditional process time because they happen simultaneously
• Triple output capacity and fast response to quick and short job runs

Forward Drive

AV Flexologic invented and patented automatic plate mounting in 2005 and has since grown to become the industry standard for plate mounting equipment. It deployed eight years of research and development before completing its latest innovation, RoboCELL—a testament to the team’s unwavering dedication to excellence and its ongoing pursuit of developing technologies that drive the flexographic printing industry forward.

It succeeds in improving the quality of print produced, while addressing a host of long-standing and challenging demands. Specifically:

• Tighter lead times on print jobs
• Shorter, more frequent print jobs
• Aging/retiring prepress staff
• Inconsistency across shifts
• Difficulty locating individuals with high skill levels
• Safety and avoidance of repetitive motion injuries
• Wasted time on press that can easily be eliminated upstream

Automation of manual processes, elimination of operator dependency and reduction of prepress-related downtime are key benefits of the RoboCELL system. Any human-related mistakes are eliminated while savings in time and costs are substantial. In most cases, ROI following installation is less than one year.

RoboCELL is an innovative solution to fully automate the sleeve and mounting workflow, combining the application of tape, plate mounting and sleeve handling by employing robotics. Sleeves can be selected. Tape can be applied. The sleeve can be delivered to a mounter and plates mounted automatically. And the sleeve can be positioned in a storage cart.

A complete RoboCELL eliminates the manual process of taping the sleeve, loading it onto the mounter and, when finished, removing it from the press. In-between, it can automatically select and place the correct plates where they belong on the sleeve and adhere them. And it can mount plates on a sleeve while concurrently taping the next sleeve. It eliminates the need for anyone to grab a sleeve and load it for taping. This prevents accidental dropping or other damage, improves the time to do these tasks, and most important, avoids injury to the operator.

Components of the complete system and the function each fulfills list out as follow:

1. RoboTAPE: This is the most significant portion of the RoboCELL system. A robot with a taping tool applies tape automatically. By spiraling tape onto the sleeve—rather than wrapping a large tape around the cylinder— there is substantially less tape waste compared with manual taping. Any manual taping-related mistakes that cause press downtime are eliminated
2. RoboSLEEVE: A gripping tool, with different adapters depending upon the sleeve, handles and delivers the sleeves throughout the RoboCELL work area. The RoboSLEEVE function helps the robot not only apply the tape but also safely handle the sleeves and load/unload them. It ensures a consistent tape application with almost no waste, while eliminating manual taping errors that can cause press downtime. This results in improved print quality due to minimized seam presence on the sleeve
3. FAMM 3.0 Mounting: A fully automatic mounting machine for flexographic plates. The mounter works with RoboCELL to load and unload sleeves
4. RoboPLATE: Plate loader for the FAMM 3.0 for up to 50 plates
5. HMI Console: Placed outside the cell and used to set up jobs. To ensure safety, the robot is surrounded by a fence to protect the operator

Simple Steps

In essence, six stages comprise the robotic sleeve handling and plate mounting process. They are:

1. The operator places the Tech Cart inside the RoboCELL and selects a job from the HMI console
2. The robot takes the first sleeve and applies tape automatically (RoboTAPE)
3. The robot loads the taped sleeve on the FAMM 3.0
4. The robotic manipulator of the FAMM 3.0 takes the first plate and positions it with an accuracy of 2 microns
5. When the mounting process is complete, the robot unloads the mounted sleeve and places it back on the Tech Cart
6. The same process is repeated until all the sleeves of the selected job are mounted

Initial Reaction

Bryce Corp in Searcy, AR—the initial US-based user—offers comment on RoboCELL’s impact through VP Andy Platt. “In a challenging labor market, it allows us to free up valuable operator time, while being consistent from sleeve to sleeve and shift to shift. The high capacity allows us to nearly finish all production for the day in a single shift. We have started to run the system at full capacity and are working toward our goal for the RoboCELL to mount 240 sleeves in 24 hours. Recently, we taped 139 sleeves in a nine-hour period.”

About the Author

Martijn Otten is the managing director of AV Flexologic and Tech Sleeves. The firm specializes in automatic flexographic plate mounting technology. Over the course of the last 50 years, it has developed a series of automatic plate mounting machines, from motorized to semi-automatic, automatic and most recently fully automatic. All were designed to maximize efficiency and accuracy, whether manually mounting flexographic plates or engaging in the process with no human intervention necessary. Models include FAMM 3.0, SAMM 2.0, MOM DD + Pro and MOM DDS. For additional information, visit flexologic.nl.