Starting out with the topic of LED UV, Steve Metcalf and Jon Graunke gave an update on where this new technology is currently and where it’s going. They noted that AMS successfully installed its first production unit in Japan on a four-over-four machine last fall, with more units to be installed here in the states this year.
I know it’s early on, but you might want to keep a close eye on the development of LED UV technology. As the process expands and becomes perfected, this could be a game changer for the industry.
If you read my “Are you ready for a serious commitment?” blog a while back, you will totally understand what the next group of speakers was saying. Hearing from a panel that included some printers that have lived through the trials and tribulations of UV printing along, with specialty applications and coatings, made the audience aware that producing this degree of print doesn’t come easy or without cost.
The attendees quickly realized that a magic wand and pixie dust doesn’t exist and that they could forget about the possibility of a “one-size-fits-all” solution when encountering the variety of variables held within these applications.
John Giusto of Curtis Packaging stated that the best advice he could give was to spend the money and hire someone to get you started in the right direction and not to go it alone. He emphasized how this approach could save thousands of wasted dollars on R&D trying to figure out how to achieve the results you’re after.
Closing out the day with a presentation on the often times forgotten and overlooked subject of equipment maintenance, Dan Cunningham gave the group a chance to see how the dollars spent on preventive maintenance definitely outweigh the costs of downtime and equipment failures.
I’m sure you have all heard the saying, “Behind every good man is a great woman.” With that said, I have to add the fact that Kati Stratton Rocks!!!!
I want to personally thank Kati for all of the hard work and dedication she has given to the organization and communication of the Print UV Conference through the years. This is valuable conference for the UV industry, and I appreciate her focus and commitment.
And I’m sure her bosses sent her on a long vacation to a nice warm beach afterwards...
- Categories:
- Offset Printing - UV/LED Curing
Darren has worked in the printing industry for 30 years and spent more than 12 years at two of the nation's leading high-end commercial printers: Bradley Printing in Des Plaines, IL, and Williamson Printing Corp. in Dallas, TX. During that time, he operated conventional and UV 40˝ sheetfed presses and also successfully managed a $15-million pressroom equipment transition. Darren also was Lead Press Instructor for Heidelberg, where he directed specialty equipment startups and was involved in all aspects of the printing process by teaching both instructor and pressroom employees.
In addition, he served as a troubleshooter for various printing companies in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. As operations manager for a start-up specialty folding carton company, he played a key role in achieving more than $6 million in sales within two years. Currently Darren is president of D.G. Print Solutions, a consulting firm that supports printing companies of all sizes. He specializes in growth development planning, pressroom color management and pressroom training through specialty print applications.