Consumables
PM first to deploy GEW hybrid ArcLED UV system GEW at OPM with LW1 LED UV cassette
Wednesday 18. May 2016 - OPM Group in Leeds have installed an additional Nilpeter printing press with GEW hybrid UV curing to boost energy savings and to extend their commercial offer.
OPM (Labels & Packaging) Group Limited is a specialist label converter based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The companys product range includes innovative high quality self-adhesive labels and flexible packaging solutions including laminates, sachets, lidding film, flow wrap and flexible packaging.
In 2015 OPM acquired a customised configuration of a UV curing system installed on a Nilpeter F4* flexo printing press with nine GEW systems comprising 5 arc lamp stations and 4 LED UV lampheads together with ArcLED RHINO electronic power supplies and a chill roller with each print unit. The configuration is able to print flexo and coatings on multiple substrates and multi-layer compounds.
The decision to invest in the GEW ArcLED UV system was due to OPMs desire to reduce energy use, increase productivity and to offer their clients a wider range of products.
Chris Ellison, managing director of OPM Group, explains: “Tactical use of UV LED on certain print units has doubled this machines productivity and our capability to manufacture special new products. Only GEW was able to offer us this package of efficiency, capability and reliability.”
With the GEW ArcLED system OPM were able to achieve significantly higher speeds as LED curing is used to target and relieve processes that were bottlenecks with conventional arc lamp UV curing. The high intensity longwave output of GEWs LED UV lamps enable these processes to be run at speeds of up to 175 m/min, much faster than was ever possible before.
And Ellison adds: “A guaranteed level of ink cure with reduced power settings gives us the peace of mind that the packaging we produce is fully cured. Adding to the fact that we are full low migration packaging producers this is very important.”
GEWs ArcLED RHINO UV system based on the high efficiency E2C/LW1 ArcLED lampheads brings further benefits of considerable savings in electricity consumption. Ellison concludes: “The hybrid arc/LED plug and play functionality combined with the RHINO electronic power supply reduces our electricity bill. Our initial investment effort is recouped quickly through faster, stable production with no downtime.”
