Cerutti Packaging and Equipment (CPE), a subsidiary of the Cerutti Group (Vercelli, Italy), has approved QuadTech‘s Autotron 2600 Register Guidance System with ClearLogic as a standard feature on its gravure packaging presses. This approval follows joint development tightly integrating the QuadTech Autotron register system into Cerutti’s press controls. The system enhances the press’s ability to pre-set the cylinder positions, and enables the press to lock into register seconds after production has started. The press can then maintain tight tolerances throughout the print run. By minimizing start-up waste, QuadTech’s Autotron register system enables Cerutti presses to maintain profitability in short-run printing situations. 

The Autotron system achieves complete control regardless of ink, speed or substrate, and can measure opaque, transparent, reflective substrates such as BOPP, metalized film and high-gloss cast. The system works seamlessly with the Cerutti Auto Presetting System (CAPS) as an integrated, flexible and cost-efficient tool for minimizing waste at the start of new and repeat jobs in the first phase of production.

Riccardo Montagnini, Innovation Manager CPE, says, “As leaders in the rotogravure printing sector for packaging and converting equipment, we need to ensure that our presses maintain the highest levels of efficiency. It is essential that we adapt to the marketplace by investing in automation to increase speeds of production and decrease job change-over times. QuadTech’s Autotron register control system delivers exactly what our customers need for fast, reliable manufacturing. As shorter runs become the standard in package printing, down-time and waste need to be minimized. This system will ensure that start-up times are optimized and defects eliminated.”

The Cerutti packaging gravure presses will use QuadTech’s Autotron 2600™ register scanning heads to assist in phasing and sequencing all of the cylinders into register. This process uses programmable scanning-heads and pre-set capabilities, which access stored job parameters for easy alignment, regardless of substrate. It easily switches between paper and film or foil modes without having to stop the press. The scanning heads then send corrections through the joint Ethernet Interface, recognizing register errors invisible to the human eye, giving the operator more control over make-ready and quality.

Randy Freeman, QuadTech general manager of packaging says, “We are very pleased with the results of our cooperation on this project. With the ability to pre-set, store and share information via the jointly-developed interface, the next job can be set up while the current job is running and corrected within in a run length to precise register. This eliminates time-consuming manual intervention and waste.”

Since QuadTech was recognized by Cerutti as an approved supplier of register control systems, the American manufacturer’s press controls are being installed on Cerutti presses at Containers Printing Pte Ltd, Singapore, a leading manufacturer of high-quality metal and plastic packaging products, and Shanxi Yongji Printing and Dyeing Co.,Ltd., China, which specializes in printing, dyeing, and final finishing of textiles.