Since the fall of 2009, the successful packaging specialist Friedrich Wenner GmbH in Versmold, Germany, has been using a high-performance system by manroland: a six-color ROLAND 900 in format 6, with coating module, double extensions, and unique AUPASYS materials logistics. At the technology forum on April 29, 2010, international printers and printing experts examined the extraordinary workflow.

After introductions by the Managing Director of Wenner, Stephan Potthoff-Wenner, and manroland Executive Board member Dr. Markus Rall, Friedrich Torneden from manroland Nord spoke about top performance in sheetfed offset printing. His credo: without improving the entire process, printing companies will not be able to overcome future challenges regarding quality, protection of the environment, food safety regulations, and efficiency. Dr. Alexander Faber from Weilburger Graphics GmbH discussed the possibilities and limits of UV technology in food packaging printing. Gerd Gellner from Paderborner Bonifatius GmbH reported on how his printing company reached 0% alcohol use with manroland sheetfed and web offset presses and on the activities the company is also engaged in terms of environmental protection, even participating in voluntary CO2 compensation initiatives for company vehicles. Uwe Blavius from System-Werbung Blavius, an advertising agency in Dissen, Germany, appealed to the participants of the food packaging process chain. He asked participants to communicate even more directly and avoid loss of information at the various communication interfaces in order to attain optimum packaging solutions at POS.

Switch from flexo to offset
The new packaging printing facility at Wenner is a prime example of how manroland generates multiple utility for its customers through its wide service range. From planning the new 700 square meter hall to the delivery of printing ink, from operating-staff training to the design of the logistics system: the manroland specialists from Offenbach and Hamburg, Germany, managed the entire project. Potthoff-Wenner's specifications were clear: he wanted a printing operation that fully complies with quality, environmental, and health criteria, one that integrates as many steps as possible in the entire process by using automation. Furthermore, he wanted a smooth transition from flexo to offset. As Potthoff-Wenner notes, "Within a short period of time, the quality demands by our customers for printed images sharply increased, especially for high grammages. For some time, we had considered switching from flexo to offset printing in our own printing facility and we have now found the right technology and a qualified partner." Since last fall, all flexo contracts have been switched to offset, and the former offset contracts that were processed by a service provider were integrated into our own printing operation.

A worldwide-unique integration of printing and logistics
Printing and logistics were uniquely combined at Wenner, a worldwide first. A few highlights: the ROLAND 900 prints sheets that are entirely alcohol-free with a thickness of up to 1.6 mm and works with a non-stop system for feed and delivery. Prepared piles are automatically fed and discharged through conveyor technology. A pile reverser has been integrated in the AUPASYS system, from which the pallets are automatically re-fed. Up to 25 pallets can be buffered on the conveyor lines at a time, and that is necessary because pallets with the thickest printing substrate can only hold up to 1,000 sheets. The new printing and logistics solution proves to be efficient and productive – and convinced the participants of this at the live demonstration. Three jobs were demonstrated with PPL plate and non-stop pile change, coating and a combination of print varnish and dispersion coating. In full format the ROLAND 900 reached its top speed of 14,000 sheets per hour printing 0.6 mm solid board (300 g/m2). The ROLAND 900 showed its potential for processing extremely thick substrates by printing a typical Wenner job: 1.4 mm solid board (1,050 g/m2) at a speed of 8,000 sheets per hour.