QuadTech will present print quality and waste saving solutions for packaging printers and converters at Emballage 2014, taking place from 17-20 November in Paris Nord Villepinte, France.
The company will demonstrate its systems for flexo and gravure packaging applications that include in-line inspection and spectral colour measurement solutions for films, foils, papers and laminates, designed to reduce make-ready times, accelerate throughput, provide quality assurance, ensure customer satisfaction and increase competitiveness.
Karl Fritchen, President of QuadTech commented, ‘Emballage 2014 is the perfect platform for us to demonstrate our market-leading technology to packaging printers and converters. Brand owners are becoming more and more demanding when it comes to colour quality and controlling costs. Our automated solutions are designed to meet those demands, and to streamline operations. Thanks to increased production control and waste management, the feedback we get from our customers is fantastic, they cite improved profitability and competitiveness, with many claiming major business transformations, too. In today’s market, having a firm grip on your margins is essential to success, so the time has never been better to talk to us about how we can help.’
Highlighted on the QuadTech stand will be solutions designed to address the issues that impact yield and productivity, such as the QuadTech® Colour Quality Solution that utilises the expertise of QuadTech, X-Rite and leading ink manufacturers. The system combines inline spectral colour measurement, ink formulation data and ink dispensing technology to ensure accurate colour matching.
Customer-defined colour targets are prepared and a spectral colour curve is created and loaded into X-Rite’s Ink Formulation software, which creates an ink recipe. This recipe is added to a colour database that then feeds information to the dosing machine for preparation of an ink can, ready for the press.
The colour targets are then loaded into the QuadTech Colour Measurement System with SpectralCam™, which collects and maintains live spectral data inline, at full press speeds. Deviations, measured in Delta-E values, are captured and the spectral data sent back to the X-Rite Ink Formulation software via a CxF file. This automatic measurement and reformulation maintains colour quality while reducing waste and downtime.
Quality assurance is also guaranteed with the QuadTech Inspection System, which inspects 100% of the web 100% of the time. The system can be used with opaque, translucent and transparent substrates as well as on reflective materials, and detects process faults (streaks, hazing, colour variation and mis-register) as well as random defects.
The QuadTech Web Viewing System can be used as a stand-alone system, or in conjunction with the Inspection System, for real-time viewing of the moving web and optimum defect viewing. High magnification with unsurpassed image clarity enables operators to identify faults before they are visible to the human eye, so remedial action can be taken before defective copy is run.
QuadTech PDF Verification software is an option that enables printers to catch errors before they go into production, by comparing approved artwork to a printed sample, ensuring correct press setup, print accuracy and quality.
QuadTech will also highlight other products including the QuadTech Autotron™ 2600 with ClearLogic™ Register Guidance System, for minimising waste and improving print quality for packaging and decorative printing applications. QuadTech DataCentral® for Inspection is a powerful database that stores job and defect information from one or more presses and facilitates quality control decisions.
QuadTech’s Waste Management System takes quality control information from QuadTech DataCentral, and enables automatic control of the slitter/rewinder/sheeter to ensure that defective material is removed efficiently.
Stephan Doppelhammer, Market Manager for Packaging for QuadTech concluded, ‘In a market of fierce competition, solutions like ours can often mean the difference between profit and loss. But increasingly for many, through streamlined operations, quicker make-readies and minimised waste, shorter run work is now possible, opening up many new business opportunities.’
