Solon, Ohio – As part of their company’s dedication to investing in the future of print, Tennessee Industrial Printing, Inc. or TIPS, as they’re recognized locally, recently installed the GEW LeoLED-UV Curing System on their Komori LS440P press. Founded in 1972, TIPS is a mid-size commercial printer servicing industrial, manufacturing, and university print segments throughout Tennessee. Their variety of capabilities include offset, digital, and packaging printing as well as direct mail services.

With 85% of their revenue in offset printing, ?the new GEW LeoLED Curing System retrofitted on their Komori has increased capacity on color work by around 50-60% and has reduced spoilage from less starts and stops, according to TIPS owner, Wayne Chambers. “Quality is expected in the marketplace, but service is harder to find. We pride ourselves in service by doing exactly what we promise and meeting our customer's deadlines. So, we wanted to open up capacity and have faster turn times. We wanted sheets coming out of the press dry, ready to go right back through the press or straight to the bindery.”

Amidst an economic downturn affecting many industries, TIPS still sees the clear advantage in investing in new technology such as LED curing. “There is printing out there that needs to be done,” states Chambers. “We’re going to go out, grab it, and bring it in. If you don't continue to invest, you’re going to be left behind. It’s absolutely necessary to stay up-to-date with technology and continue to invest in the future,” states Chambers. This resolve has proven effective for the company in times past. “TIPS showed growth in the 2008 recession and has shown growth every year since we bought the company in 2006,” concludes Chambers. “We refuse to buy into the mindset that print is declining. We have a hashtag that we use often: #PrintIsAlive.”

TIPS invested in the latest GEW LeoLED-UV MLA (Modular Lamp Array) curing technology, so they enjoy the ultimate in curing capabilities, flexibility and gloss level. GEW is a UK-based manufacturer of UV curing systems for printing applications. The company has taken a world-leading position in both UV curing technology and the label printing market, with tens of thousands of installations across the globe.

Benefits of LED Curing
Instant drying of inks with LED curing enables immediate finishing, allowing sheets to be perfected, folded, cut or bound right away, reducing work-in-progress and significantly shortening lead-times. “It has done exactly what we expected,” Chambers states, “it’s definitely opened up capacity.” GEW’s curing technology also includes instant on/off switching, leading to increased machine up-time and no time spent waiting for the lamps to heat up or cool down. Unlike H-UV or traditional mercury lamps, LEDs emit very little infrared heat towards the substrate, avoiding common heat-related issues such as high pile temperatures and loss of moisture in paper.

LED-UV polymer inks allow successful printing on plastics and other substrates, paving the way at TIPS for new opportunities. “We want to perfect printing with LED on paper first, and then we'll take the next step,” states Chambers. “Printing on other substrates - that’s our next step.”

“Now that LED-UV curing has gone mainstream, TIPS continues to stay ahead of the curve by investing in the leading-edge design of LeoLED-UV from GEW,” states Troy Miller, Southeast Representative for Graphco. “In addition to manufacturing efficiencies, by eliminating VOC’s and spray powder from the work environment, the LeoLED-UV system results in health and safety improvements for employees. We applaud their commitment to print and will support their efforts to bring innovative print products to their markets.”