Sussex, Wisconsin, USA – In the last 18 months, QuadTech has launched a host of performance-enhancing press control solutions for offset, flexo and gravure. During Gulf Print & Pack 2011 (Dubai, March 14 – 17) QuadTech will highlight a number of these at stand C716, under the theme Moving You Forward.

Innovations for the packaging market include the Color Measurement System with SpectralCam with a new high density dot viewing capability, and the enhanced Inspection System with SpectralCam, featuring in-line color measurement capability for film. Newspaper printers can discover the advantages of the Color Control and Web Inspection System with AccuCam. QuadTech will also introduce Proactive Care, which provides around-the-clock health and condition monitoring of QuadTech ICON systems by skilled technicians.

Karl Fritchen, President of QuadTech, comments, "QuadTech engineers are constantly pushing technology forward, providing printers with the tools needed to consistently deliver the highest levels of print quality to their customers. We provide the industry's most effective solutions for color control, web inspection, register control and data management – all of which will be illustrated at Gulf Print & Pack."

Commercial web offset

Color Control System with Instrument Flight? and SpectralCam uses a spectral-based sensor to capture 31 channels of accurate color data from each patch of a continuous color bar. The data, converted into L*a*b* and densitometric measurements, is then analyzed by System Brunner's enhanced Instrument Flight + L*a*b* to facilitate the highest levels of accuracy in color control and gray balance. Overall the enhanced system gives a better match between proof and print. This match is maintained throughout the run, and at all speeds, by self-learning algorithms that automatically compensate for any change in running conditions. The system is designed for all web widths, including the latest 96-page presses.

QuadTech's Register Guidance System with MultiCam? utilizes the world's fastest and best-selling register camera to provide accurate color-to-color register, cut-off register and ribbon register to commercial web and newspaper printers. New enhancements include Ink guiding for control of print-to-slitter register, cocking control for tilting images across the web and fan-out control to minimize the effects of web growth. A testament to the proven performance of QuadTech's MultiCam, the company expects to install its 10,000th camera in early 2011.

According to Vince Balistrieri, responsible for QuadTech's newspaper and commercial SBU, "MultiCam is one of many QuadTech products that integrate over our ICON platform. As we use the interaction between systems to help printers produce better copies with less waste, we will continue to add features that add value and match evolving market trends. For example, 'fan-out' is an increasing challenge to printers as webs get wider. Our solution minimizes the register shift so that the entire web delivers excellent copies."

Packaging

The package printing market is growing rapidly across the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey. The growing modernization of the retail market and demand for processed foods is fuelling demand for local sources of high-quality packaging, and brand-owners expect their print suppliers to deliver to global standards. QuadTech's precise, fast, in-line inspection and spectral color measurement solutions give the region's growing flexo and gravure printers a means of ensuring quality consistency and leaner manufacturing. QuadTech's packaging product highlights include:

The QuadTech Inspection System inspects the entire substrate in-line during printing, laminating and rewinding. Unlike other inspection systems that only scan small sample areas, the QuadTech Inspection System achieves total defect detection with the press running uninterrupted at normal print speeds, inspecting the entire substrate width 100% of the time.

The Inspection System with SpectralCam combines true 100% inspection with advanced color measurement in a single system. The technology has been enhanced with the capability of measuring color in-line on unsupported film as well as paper. The system assures continuous, in-line monitoring of virtually all web-fed package materials, including transparent, translucent and opaque substrates. The SpectralCam camera uses 31 bin spectrophotometer technology to measure spectral response and calculates accurate L*a*b*, ΔE and ΔDensity values at maximum press and rewinder speeds. It measures up to 72 color targets within the work, configured as 12 units with six targets and is many times more sensitive to subtle color differences than the human eye.

The stand-alone Color Measurement System with SpectralCam provides fast, accurate color measurement on the running press. Smart spectrophotometer technology enables the system to quickly detect and analyze colorimetric and density variations from pre-determined targets. The system has been enhanced with an optional high resolution dot viewing capability, which allows press operators to view dot reproduction and structure.

The Autotron 2600 with ClearLogic Register Guidance System is an integrated, flexible and cost-efficient tool for minimizing waste and improving print quality across packaging and decorative printing applications. Its specalized solid-state scanning heads can detect a wide range of pale and low-contrast marks, thus ensuring complete control regardless of substrate, ink, or printing technique.

Newspaper Printing

The trend in newspaper printing for better control over color is being fuelled by a need to diversify. Semi-commercial products, hybrid heatset/coldest newspapers and publications geared to attract advertisers - such as lifestyle supplements - are now commonplace.

To help printers achieve the required quality and accuracy, QuadTech has responded with the Color Control and Web Inspection System with AccuCam. This is an inline, image-based color control that optimizes control over an entire image by comparing image values with target aim points derived from the prepress file, in terms of CIELAB values. The system also provides fast detection of scumming, plate verification, and other inspection capabilities.

When linked through an ICON platform to established controls for register and ribbon guidance, the entire QuadTech newspaper package drives added value, waste reduction and manpower savings into both newspaper and semi-commercial applications.

Register Guidance System with MultiCam has been enhanced with automatic fan-out control features to minimize register errors due to web stretch in the humid environment of the printing towers. QuadTech's fan-out control software automatically keeps the press in lateral register across the full width of the web, throughout the entire run. Register control cameras mounted on both the gear and operator sides of the web capture tiny shifts in lateral register and instantly make automatic corrections via an interface with the bustle wheels.

Vince Balistrieri, responsible for QuadTech's newspaper and commercial SBU, comments: "The addition of fan-out control optimizes the number of 'saleable' copies by eliminating the risks of subjective and error-prone manual adjustments. As a consequence make-ready is faster and color fit is spot on, irrespective of the ink coverage on the web."

Proactive Care ensures round-the-clock technical support

QuadTech has strengthened its commitment to technical and after-sales support with the launch of Proactive Care, a remote diagnostic service whereby skilled technicians provide around-the-clock health and condition monitoring of QuadTech ICON systems. Managing your print systems is no longer a game of waiting for issues to occur and then scrambling to repair them. Today, you must be able to identify and address issues before they become costly problems to ensure that your operation stays productive and profitable. Proactive Care continuously monitors a broad range of critical performance factors such as battery life, hard disk life expectancy, press communications, cabinet temperature, and PC restarts. In the unlikely event that a malfunction occurs, press crews are alerted immediately to preempt expensive downtime.