Gallus believes it has the answer to shorter run lengths, faster delivery schedules, and lower inventories that carton converters everywhere are facing.
At one-day seminar, held recently at its production facility near Frankfurt, Germany, it demonstrated how its new Gallus KM 510 S, a modular press line that is both innovative and versatile, allows for the production of printed and converted carton blanks in a single pass. The result, Gallus claims, is improved workflow, reduced handling, lower investment levels, reduced requirements for both personnel and floorspace and a better ROI than traditional methods allow.
Those traditional methods include sheetfed offset printing followed by off-line finishing, however Gallus says it is not competing directly against that process, rather complementing it.
Designed to produce high quality carton products such as blister packs, display packaging, cups, lids, and sleeves, its 510mm web width is the only limiting factor, so for larger format sizes, Gallus, via its new partner BHS is able to offer wider web widths on the Flexline Intro series from 670mm to 1720mm. Crucial to its commercial viability is the speed with which a machine can be made ready between jobs, the flexibility of its production capability, and the amount of waste it generates.
The Gallus KM 510 S is built around a platform concept that permits a variety of printing and converting units to be interchanged on a 'slide-in, slide-out' basis. These include a variety of printing techniques from water-based and UV flexo to UV rotary screen and water-based rotogravure, as well as hot or cold foil, laminating, creasing, embossing, window punching and die cutting. In all, a maximum of 16 print and or processing stations are available, making the new model suited to today's constantly changing market trends.
Board capability is up to 450gsm or 0.6mm, and operational speed can be as high as 150mpm, which on a two-up, two-around layout would mean a delivery of 75,000 blanks an hour. Die cutting can be rotary or flat-bed, normally depending on run length, with the latter technique employing the mobile Gallus FSM 510 unit.
The Gallus KM 510 S demonstrated to delegates at the seminar was configured to produce a beauty care product. It featured a single spindle unwind, a pre-web cleaner for both sides, and final web cleaner which is so important for flexo printing. The platform included eight print stations, all of which offered UV and hot air drying, doors which integrated the ink cans, a mobile hot foil unit with foil saver for multi stream working and mobile rotary screen printing unit. The Gallus FSM 510 was used for flat bed die cutting and was fitted with the optional pin stripper for windows, and a shingle delivery.
The first job was four-colour process (CMYK), with a glitter varnish, hot foil and aqueous varnish. It ran at 60mpm, two-across, two-around, which approximates to 30,000 blanks an hour. After a 20 minute changeover, a blister card was printed four-colour process (CMYK) on the front, single colour on the reverse, plus blister varnish and punched window. This was produced on a relatively heavy 335gsm (535 micron) board. Without the window, a speed of 100 mpm was possible, delivering 160,000 blanks an hour.
According to Gallus' Uli Kretzschmar: "There are five key advantages of the Gallus KM system for the carton converter looking to meet the requirements of today's production environment: process flexibility offered by the platform design; modularity that allows for growth; integrated servo drive for controllability; sleeve technology for plate cylinder and anilox rolls for superior handling; and a sliding master control panel for good operator ergonomics." Launched initially with a mechanical line shaft drive, the newly introduced 'S' series is 30 per cent faster and 30 per cent more substrate efficient.
Typical applications, according to Kretzschmar, are markets which meet the parameters of small format dimensions, added value, and run lengths up to one million blanks, which include pharmaceutical, beauty and healthcare, security, blister cards, sports items (for example golf ball packs), and in certain markets, niches within the tobacco industry."
With the advantages of a small footprint, no wip, process flexibility, reduced waste, lower manning levels, lower investment outlay, cheaper substrate on the reel, and improved efficiency, Gallus sees its KM 510 S line as a complementary technology rather than a replacement for traditional sheet fed offset carton printing with offline converting.
The issue of added value was highlighted by Heinz Brocker, manager of Rotascreen at Gallus, who outlined the benefits of screen printing for product differentiation, whether in the form of decoration and added shelf-appeal, or in the area of safety, where important messages need to be conveyed to the user. He said: "Screen printing is ideally suited to the pharmaceutical market, where in Europe alone, seven million blind or partially sighted people require daily medicine. The facility to print Braille or Moon to acknowledged international standards puts screen printing ahead of the traditional method of embossing."
Aside from the safety aspect, screen printing, with its added weight of ink, offers consumers a tactile experience with packaging. Brocker added: "Used creatively, a 'touchy-feely' effect can add a major impact to a product's appeal and market share." The Gallus Screeny system is quick and easy to use, with screen cylinders being prepared in-house in less than 30 minutes. A Gallus Rotascreen unit may be part of the press' original specification, or added later as a retrofit. It can also be fitted anywhere in the press line.
There is little doubt that as markets for printed packaging become more global, those companies with a wide range of technology will benefit from the single point of contact they offer to converters. The launch of the Gallus KM 510 S line typifies the way in which machinery manufacturers need to utilise a degree of lateral thinking if they are to continue to be successful in meeting the changes in global demand.
