Consumables
Unlocking the potential of high-quality printing on tissue material
Friday 02. February 2018 - Web guiding and web monitoring systems by BST eltromat for managing and monitoring production quality are among the most important quality assurance components found in SDF machines. These systems allow SDF customers all over the world to produce high-quality printed items using tissue and non-woven materials.
“Print quality standards for paper napkins are constantly on the rise all over the world,” says Peter Allard, Managing Directorof Schnitt Druck Falz Spezialmaschinen GmbH (SDF), which is based in Monheim am Rhein, Germany. “And with the ongoing increase in wealth in newly industrialized countries, new markets keep on emerging for our machines.” His business – which specializes in machines that print very high-quality napkins and other tissue products such as tablecloths – operates in an incredibly dynamic and competitive market sector, he explains.
“We have worked in close partnership with BST eltromat ever since our company was founded in 1997,” Allard says. “Their solutions for web guiding and web monitoring give our customers all the options they need to manage and monitor their production quality reliably.” In both sectors, SDF has only ever used BST eltromat systems in its machines, Allard explains. Thanks to SDFs broad portfolio, the company can focus on what is the best solution for its customers – both technologically and financially – without restrictions. Allard considers this essential, especially for customers who are cautious in their investments.
Paper napkins have become a lifestyle item. “Hosts are now happy to pay a little more to ensure that their napkins give off the right ambience,” says Allard on the trend. “We now print the soft, tensile webs in a 34 screen with up to nine colors.” This, he explains, is exactly what his company specializes in, and the challenge that they work on hand-in-hand with BST eltromat. “When faced with new or highly specialized challenges, we get the experts from BST eltromat involved in the project planning of the machines at an early stage to help us find the best solutions possible.”
Web guiding systems keep the material webs on a straight path as they travel through the machines, thus fulfilling an important requirement for perfect printing and embossing quality. SDF generally uses CompactGuides for this in a variety of widths to match its different machines. For the company, one of the key features of this system is its high level of user-friendliness, as it can be operated via the control unit. For machines that process tissue materials such as paper napkins, the system is equipped with two optical IR2011 web edge sensors with infrared lights. These sensors reliably detect the edges of the web, even when subjected to heavy soiling.
These are also a traditional web center control system that compensates for fluctuations in web width. This is particularly important for tissue and non-woven materials, as the tension or other factors can cause deformation – shrinking or squashing, either parallel or perpendicular to the direction of travel – in the material webs for these applications. In such cases, the web center control system prevents wobbly lines from being printed on the sides of the materials.
For web monitoring, SDF relies on BST eltromats POWERScope 5000 web monitoring systems. These are installed in the machines downstream of the last inking unit, and fulfill the customers requirements to a tee – they are easy to set up and very simple to use. This improves production reliability, especially with well-trained staff. “The POWERScope 5000 helps our customers to minimize waste and ensure a consistent print quality,” says Allard. During setup, the operators let their machines start up slowly and use the images supplied by the POWERScope 5000 to register the colors. This takes mere moments, but reduces start-up waste to a minimum. The systems also continuously monitor the print quality during production. Customers who invest in a second camera system can also monitor the embossing of the print.
SDF can also include other BST solutions in its machines depending on the customers requirements, such as turner bars, folding triangle adjustment systems or the SUPER HANDYScan 4000 print monitor. More than 120 SDF machines are in use across the globe, all of which are equipped with BST eltromat web guiding systems. Around 80 of them have printing units – and these machines also contain BST eltromat web monitoring systems. “BST eltromat has established itself as the industry standard. Many of our customers include this manufacturers solutions in the specifications required for their machines,” Allard says. This is often purely down to the reputation for reliability that these systems enjoy on the market. At the time of writing, no BST eltromat system has ever experienced a failure in an SDF machine.
“Time and again, we have driven this industry forward with our innovations,” Allard explains. Today, he sees his company as a pioneer in the field of digital printing. This approach has seen SDF work with OCE/Canon to develop a digital napkin printing machine designed specially for tissue materials, which enables the user to print and customize even small batches of high-quality napkins. “In our sector as in many others, digital printing is the future,” says Allard. Fortunately, SDF and BST eltromat enjoy a partnership that will remain almost completely unchanged despite this technological revolution.