Cape Town, South Africa - Ever since its establishment by Thomas van den Oever in 1981, Printech has won a reputation for its progressive methods, high quality products and world-class customer support. So it was with a sense of keen anticipation that many of the country’s leading printers descended on its Cape Town Open House days in March to see the new LED-UV technology from Air Motion Systems | AMS that has excited so much attention in our industry in recent months all over the world.

To demonstrate the new technology, Printech had refurbished a Heidelberg Speedmaster 102 5-colour press with integral coating unit, to its customary high standard, and fitted one AMS XP 9/17W Series LED-UV lamp between print units one and two, and a second in the delivery. Printech Director, Graham Townsend explains:

“We rebuilt the press with Westland combination rollers, so that the roller chain can accept conventional as well as UV inks, and we chose three substrates for our demonstrations that our clients find most problematic in their everyday printing environment. LED-UV technology offers benefits to commercial printers as well as those using non-absorbent substrates or specialising in packaging, so it was important to show a comprehensive range.”

The three substrates used were a 65gsm metalized sheet, a 135gsm PVC/Vinyl and 90gsm uncoated paper. The demonstrations were run at full production speeds using TOYO, Epple and FLINT LED UV inks and Prisco fountain solution and the sheets were delivered immediately cured ready for trimming and finishing.

Print Demonstrator, Andreas Stegemann, describes the benefits of the AMS LED-UV solution:

“Because the sheets dry instantly we are able to run the press faster and turn jobs round quicker and, because LED-UV cuts out the need for spray powder, there are no headaches at the coating or laminating stages – and the pressroom is a whole lot cleaner. Also, there’s a significant energy saving because the concentrated wavelength of the LED system uses much less power and the lamps switch on and off immediately – which also speeds up wash-ups. I’m also finding you get more consistent drying results compared to H-UV and Low Energy lamp systems.”

But Mr Stegemann goes on to say that the benefit that strikes everybody first – the absence of noxious odours in the workplace and in the sheets – is far more than a cosmetic benefit:

“Because the LED-UV lamps don’t infuse heat into the sheets and the press, that means you don’t get the nasty fumes, but it is also great for synthetic substrates because heat is the cause of so many registration issues. And it’s good for busy pressrooms, too, because you can work with deeper stacks on your pallets and run the jobs straight through your bindery, meaning you can make better use of your floorspace and cut your delivery times.”

The more than 200 visitors represented packaging, flexo and web print operations, as well as commercial printing houses and were able to see a broad spectrum of equipment on working demonstration from manufacturers including: STAGO, Air Motion Systems, Prisco, Bluprint UK, Atécé, Laser Cleaning and Digital Distributors.

Graham Townsend reports that feedback from the visitors has been universally positive:

“It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that they were overwhelmed by the new AMS LED-UV technology and the impact it can have on production performance. We fully anticipate orders to result – and sooner than the typical mainstream capital investment cycle might indicate. Because these units can be retro-fitted to existing presses and transferred, in due course, to new machines, there is a sound business case for printers to switch to LED-UV as early as possible to improve their competitive edge and start reaping the rewards.”