Sustainable and Synergistic Flexographic Presses

There’s no doubt that sustainability is top-of-mind for today’s flexographic printing industry.

In the recent FLEXO Magazine Flash Poll, printers agreed that sustainability will be driving the future as the industry changes. They are consciously seeking solutions to combine sustainable production while maintaining the highest-possible quality for their customers. There’s been a rise in demand for more environmentally friendly substrates for all types of packaging.

With its ‘Exceeding Print’ strategy, Koenig & Bauer is leading the charge, supporting these needs, and investing in and promoting sustainability as the greatest challenge the packaging industry will face in the future. Its team has led discussions at various meetings on sustainability and is happy to provide advice and support.

Customers are emphasizing corporate and environmental responsibility, such as ethical sourcing and recyclability compliance, so press manufacturers are always looking to expand product offerings and manufacture presses in the most environmentally friendly manner possible. What changes need to take place? How can printers adopt sustainability? Synergistically, of course.

Step by Step

One of the first steps a flexographic printer needs to take is to look at its carbon footprint and make a goal of reducing that footprint. It should be a specific target, such as decreasing waste in flexographic printing operations by 35 percent in four years, rather than an ambiguous goal.

Respondents to the Flash Poll vowed to reduce their plant’s carbon footprint. Even Koenig & Bauer has set a specific goal for itself. “By 2025, we are aiming to reduce CO2 emissions in our production plants by 75 percent and intend to be completely carbon-neutral from 2030 onward,” announced Koenig & Bauer CEO Dr. Andreas Pleßke.

He further stated, “We help our customers reduce their ecological footprint. Solutions based on technology that we developed capitalize on synergies and reduce energy consumption, cut waste, and decrease ink and coating consumption, helping to cut CO₂ emissions.”

Software Is Driver

Indeed, 88 percent of respondents to the Flash Poll overwhelmingly rank maximizing efficiencies as the No. 1 agenda item. Koenig & Bauer couldn’t agree more. Enhanced efficiency through digital processes and increased modularity in the product portfolio is extremely important.

Software is at the heart of this transformation. It connects machines, collects and analyzes data, and controls processes more efficiently. Software allows a printer to analyze its production data to evaluate machine performance. Clearly it promotes sustainability through synergies.

“Customers can not only set benchmarks but also work with significantly greater efficiency,” says Pleßke. “Faults are detected at an earlier stage, the initiation of service and maintenance is automated, and downtimes become planned service times.”

Poll respondents said that adding automation to as many of the day-to-day tasks—software to machinery—will greatly reduce errors and miscommunication, which in turn should improve overall workflow and awareness to other key aspects of one’s position and duties. Digitalization, said one of the respondents, will help steer future production runs by eliminating waste, reducing makeready times and increasing press uptime.

Other critical moves for sustainability, said the Flash Poll respondents, include adoption of best practices and process controls (68 percent) and maintaining overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) (63 percent).

Koenig & Bauer is advancing solutions to those challenges as well. Its Augmented Reality (AR) data glasses, which received a 2019 FTA Technical Innovation Award for DataGlass Remote Support, help with uptime. Flexographic printers can get online help with the firm’s technical staff, 24/7 in the US or Europe, with the result being more uptime and productivity, plus far less downtime.

Smart Presses

The press manufacturer doesn’t just talk-the-talk. Sustainability and quality are two of its leading guiding principles. Currently it has flexographic customers whose main focus is to produce sustainable products on its presses. So:

• Engineers design presses to meet exact quality standards in production using a broad diversity of substrates
• It is actively testing materials, like new recyclable resins, to help the industry move forward
• The PrintTronic impression control system allows makeready settings to be made without ink and with a bare minimum of substrate, which is minimizing startup waste
• Drivetronic recaptures energy from slowed-down motors, providing a push toward sustainable and environmentally friendly practices
• The Ergotronic console thinks how a person operates a press and applies that mindset, so HMI is intuitive and easy to learn. Flexographic printers report massive time savings because their press operators can quickly and easily touch the screen to change the pressure of the nip rollers, automatic turn on rewind, access job recall, etc. There’s been a dramatic reduction in changeover times because all job settings are saved and stored, and can be easily recalled

These new innovations are important. One respondent noted that new equipment allows for much better process control. Other respondents noted that waste reduction and enhanced productivity are the two main strategies to improve efficiencies.

For example, one Koenig & Bauer customer is operating an Evo Series flexographic press designed to print with solvent- and water-based inks, and a special heat exchanger system with an integrated drying air control that makes it particularly energy efficient, so cost-saving production is possible.

Eco-Print Advocates

Many firms, like Koenig & Bauer, are joining sustainability organizations. One such organization is the Healthy Printing Initiative, which is committed to sustainable and eco-friendly print products and packaging. The target of the Healthy Printing Initiative is to promote the use of eco-friendly substrates, inks, coatings and other consumables for the printing of paper, carton, corrugated board, plastics and other products, and finally to enable efficient recycling systems.

Pleßke says, “We are the first press manufacturer to actively participate in this network of paper, packaging material, ink and print chemistry manufacturers, printing companies, recyclers, designers, end customers and other industry stakeholders. Substrates, additives, inks and print processes must be combined in a way that promotes sustainable, future-oriented print production.”

Another important organization is 4evergreen alliance, of which Koenig & Bauer is a member. Through a partnership with ClimatePartner, Koenig & Bauer is promoting efforts to compensate CO₂ emissions by supporting certified projects to protect the climate. Another key partnership is with BlueCompetence, a sustainability initiative organized by the VDMA. Plus, an energy management system is helping Koenig & Bauer customers reduce their own ecological footprint.

Top Priority

Sustainability will continue to be an important topic, according to Pleßke. The company will be working together with all of its customers, including flexographers, to develop innovations with more sustainable environmentally friendly solutions. And, as FLEXO Flash Poll participants replied, “Expect fast changes, sustainability will be driving the future of the industry changes. Staying focused on new technology will improve OEE.”

While Koenig & Bauer continues to reach new goals developing its flexographic presses, films and inks, its focus on sustainability is consistent. Its determination to be a leader in the sustainable future of the flexographic packaging industry remains steadfast. Sustainability will continue to be an influencing factor and the research and development team will continually be looking for new ways to help play its part.