Printed Specialties Expands UV Printing Capacity

Running at actual speeds of 16,000 sph, the LS640 replaces two earlier Komori models, reducing the press footprint on the shop floor, as well as energy consumption at this ISO-certified facility.

Other key features of the press include fully automated makeready and plate changing to support Printed Specialties' operating efficiencies and profitability while producing a high volume of relatively short-run, versioned packaging products. The company reports it has significantly reduced its turnaround times and can now do reticulating coatings, reactive varnishes, fan paper coatings and other exotic coatings it couldn’t do on a conventional press.

“We produce very high quality software packages that involve smaller runs, in one case as many as 50 different boxes customized for different regions,” said Greg Smith, president of Printed Specialties. “So the run volumes appear large, but they’re really not, and the Komori press supports those changes very well. The automation inherent in the press, particularly the plate-changing features, works very well for us. The press is running 16,000 sheets an hour right now. Komori said it would, and it is. However, probably more important than time is the savings of paper. On the older presses, it could take 500, 700, 800 sheets to pull up color, to maintain color. This press responds very quickly to changes. So when we ask it to put a little more magenta on, it only takes 15 to 20 sheets to see the change.”

Printed Specialties, founded in 1911 in Scranton, PA, established itself in Carrollton in 1985 to serve then-customer Columbia Recording. As technology and markets have changed over the years, Printed Specialties’ focus also shifted to primarily packaging, and particularly to UV printing in order to produce the specialty graphics required by today’s consumer products manufacturers. The company purchased its first Komori press, a six-color, 28˝ model, in 1990, and later installed a five-color, 40˝ Lithrone press.