Well known waterless print business Fishprint has installed the country’s first KBA Genius 52UV waterless offset press. Fishprint is one of the leading companies in Australia in the use of environmentally friendly printing techniques, and calls itself a 100 per cent waterless printing company.
With its waterless Genius 52UV, Fishprint says it wants to add to its general print work and print on non-absorbent plastics such as PVC, PC, PS, ABS, and PP. Non-absorbent paper surfaces, such as metallised or iridescent papers now also form part of its product portfolio.
Supplied by Jet Technologies the KBA Genius was first seen by Fishprint, and the rest of the Australian print community at PacPrint in May.
The Genius 52UV prints with UV inks that cure in the delivery segment of the printing press, immediately after printing. In addition, this offset machine requires no water or additives such as isopropanol, and other polluting stabilisers. The use of anti-set-off powder is completely avoided, and only small amounts of detergents are needed in the cleaning process.
Thanks to the waterless printing process, and in conjunction with the Genius 52UV short inking units, only a few start-up sheets are needed - unlike in conventional offset printing - so waste is massively reduced.
Peter Booth, Fishprint's managing director, says, "We've been looking for ways to print on extravagant substrates such as magnetic foils, foil stickers, plastic cards and plastic tags, mouse pads or environmentally friendly table mats as well as normal jobbing work for a long time.
"The Genius 52UV is the ideal printing machine for such applications. It only needs a small amount of floor space and can print up to five different colours."
The fifth printing unit can also be used for UV varnishes. Printed materials dry instantly and are immediately ready to be further processed or shipped. The machine is easy to operate and prints up to 8,000 sheets per hour. The automatic plate inserters position the plates so precisely that we rarely have to correct the registration of the four process colours.
The Genius 52UV produces a saleable result after just ten sheets. In terms of colour, it meets the pre-press targets, and remains stable during the entire print run, thanks to an inking unit temperature control system, according to Fishprint.
The adjustment of ink zones, as is the case on a conventional offset press, is now completely superfluous, because the five short inking units have no ink duct keys. An Anilox roller provides constant ink control and automatically gives the correct amount of ink to the printing areas of the printing plates.
Neither water nor isopropanol are needed in the process. Instead, silicone-coated printing plates provide a sectioning of printing and non-printing image areas. The result is the reproduction of crisp images with fine screen sizes (120lpcm or frequency modulated). Due to the absence of a dampening unit, the printers at Fishprint say they are achieving fantastic vibrant colour reproduction results.
Fishprint was a finalist for the 2008 Premier's Sustainability Award in Victoria for its commitment to reduce greenhouse gases. The company is certified with the Ecolabelling ISO 14024 ‘Whole of Life Cycle, by good environmental choice Australia’ and won the prestigious Australian ‘Savewater! Awards in 2007.
The company is also Waste Wise certified (a Victorian Government certification scheme) and already recycles 98.8 of their per cent of it waste.
Booth says, “Our aim is to be the most environmentally friendly printer in the world. Fishprint serves many environmentally aware corporate, local, state and federal Government departments, who aim for the highest level of sustainable print purchasing.”
