Printing technology, paper knowledge, and management methods all help reduce waste of paper. When it comes to printing, it is indispensable for paper. Paper is a crucial part of printing. In a modern society, the profit space has become smaller and smaller. How to minimize production costs is an issue that every manufacturer is extremely concerned about. The printing industry is no exception.
Statistics show that in North America, 8 to 9 percent of the entire printed paper is wasted during the preparation phase of printing adjustment, and the printing process has to increase by another 5 to 6 percent. Huge waste is losing the company's funds. Every one percentage point reduction can create a large amount of revenue for the company. However, paper waste is not a simple issue. It is closely related to the complexity of printing work, the operating conditions of printing equipment, maintenance methods, and accidental downtime. How to effectively solve the paper waste problem? Experts pointed us to the starting point of the following ten aspects.
First, quantitative measurement of all things If there is no set of measurement tools, printers can not accurately know how much paper should be needed to complete a task. Hagen's Oasis production information system can be directly connected to the web press through the interface, automatically count the number of printed sheets and weigh the waste. Covalent's Auto-Count can weigh the printed materials and the gross and net weight of printed products.
“Only by measuring paper consumption can we talk about mastering; only by mastering and controlling it can we talk about future improvement and improvement,†said Pete Dowling, director of production operations at Action Printing. Action Printing is a printing company with 15.5 million funds responsible for printing tasks such as catalogs, books and various operating manuals. It has two non-heat-cured web presses, and it has not been equipped with any weighing equipment. Six years ago, the company purchased the Auto-Count measurement system and found that the waste rate of paper was as high as 20%! After improvement, the company’s existing paper waste rate is only about 7%.
Dawley produced a data sheet to quantitatively record the waste of paper produced by each class as a discussion content for a regular bi-weekly work meeting. “In this way, employees have specific issues to discuss. Unlike the past, theories that say each of them are boundless, so that you always have a feeling of being behind a gun.†He said, “Now our regular meetings are very Enthusiasm, because you really feel better."
Arandell used a measurement system to measure the downtime of printing equipment, including reasons, frequency, and press sheets consumed when the equipment was adjusted to start printing. Recognizing the machine's production efficiency and the most common point of downtime, Arandell provided practical information for formulating policies to reduce paper waste. Feasible basis.
Second, invest in printing new technology In fact, printing equipment manufacturers are also actively working to reduce the rate of paper equipment, the relevant technology is becoming the industry's standards.
Seamless Blanket Technology: The M3000 press in Heidelberg uses a seamless blanket technology that enables the paper to expand its print area by 1/4 inch and saves paper. Mitsubishi's sleeve-type blanket technology allows the gap between the two blankets to be reduced to only 1/16 inch in size, which coincides with the gap in the plate cylinder, reducing the cutting size of the web, and correspondingly expanding Book area.
No positioning needle folding: The use of no positioning pin folding can save the area of ​​the signature when the positioning pin fixes the page, and further expands the size occupied by the printing content.
Linkless drive: Each part of the machine has its own independent drive, which can increase the tension control of the paper and reduce the possibility of web breaks.
Automatic ink preset technology: The most effective way to reduce paper waste is the combination of automatic ink presetting and semi-automatic plate replacement. Because this method is more traditional than the sleeve-type blanket technology, people have experience in this area and can find the corresponding skilled workers.
Others: Manroland is preparing to introduce a new roller replacement technology at Drupa that can reduce the machine's pre-press adjustment to 1,000 impressions. It mainly passes data through CIP3 technology to the next workflow, using a set of control algorithms to achieve a predetermined color density. Komori America will also demonstrate its new technology for reducing waste - KHS: Komori High Performance Inking System. Komori automatically sets the ink back to a predetermined value by reducing the printing speed of the last print, shortening the pre-press adjustment time when replacing the job, as long as several hundred sheets of paper can reach the corresponding printing color, which is short-run printing. Provides an advantageous weapon. Because the biggest waste of short-run printing lies in prepress adjustment. The key to KHS technology is that it automatically recalls ink to a known starting point after each printing, providing an effective reference point for the next color adjustment.
Third, the use of color management methods Automatic color closed loop control system (Closed-Loop Color Control System) was originally designed to maintain the ink balance in the printing process, to reduce ink color deviation, reduce scrap rate, ensure the smooth operation of the color printing Management technology. If this technology is used in web printing presses, the operator can quickly set the color according to the numerical value when the prepress machine adjusts or replaces the job, instead of relying on the trial printing to determine the color, which effectively reduces the waste paper rate. The system was adopted by Quebecor World of Massachusetts and the waste paper rate was reduced by 10%. At present, there are WPC, QTI, and Graphic Microsystems companies that provide such color ring-closing control systems.
Fourth, enhance awareness of waste, and create a climate-friendly technology to reduce paper consumption can reduce paper consumption, but it is only an auxiliary measure. The key is to focus on management, and employees must be trained and educated at all times. The combination of advanced technology and good employee education is the greatest success of paper saving.
Arandell began training employees in 1986. Because during the five years from 1981 to the year of 86, the company’s performance increased from 20 million US dollars to 100 million, the output doubled, personnel increased, and the waste paper rate also expanded.
The company held a staff meeting and the manager organized everyone to discuss the cause of the shutdown and paper waste. Once every two weeks, each group discusses and proposes the possible causes of the problem. The special person takes the lead to deal with the specific issues and plans 150 remediation plans to reduce the waste paper rate. Now that the company is in the recovery and maintenance phase, it regularly reports on the six machines of the company on a weekly and monthly basis, including shutdown intervals, downtime, which are the most prone to problems, and the most costly.
In fact, as long as the discussion of this matter itself will play a certain role, it will be able to link the economical use of paper with the benefits of the company. Quebecor World's employees know that saving paper can help them improve, while Action Printing's employees understand that for every one percent reduction in paper consumption, they add $3,400 in revenue to the company.
Fifth, buy quality without buying the price Decreasing paper consumption does not mean also reducing the price. Good printing materials can reduce the paper scrap rate. You may save 10,000 yuan on ink, but you do not know that you have to increase the scrap rate on paper. Action Printing Company has long been bargained with suppliers for the price. What they need is quality. Because they know that good materials can increase overall productivity and ultimately reduce paper consumption.
Six, try other plates
For specific printing jobs, it may be more appropriate for another printing plate. For example, PDI's double-layered metal plate is a plate designed for large-scale thermosetting web offset presses, which can effectively solve the problem of dot gain, plate curl, etc., and is better than the polyester version, and the color of paper can be realized quickly. Does not break the characteristics. A good plate helps reduce paper waste.
Seven, check the ink not only the type of ink can affect the waste paper rate, the viscosity of the same ink will also have an impact on the waste paper rate. One example is Berline, which uses half of its prints for its own paper and the other half for customer supply. In order not to tear the paper provided by the customer, the company had to use a low-viscosity ink.
8. Checking the quality of paper roll paper is also an important factor in print breakage. Packets, edge cracks, oil spots, and so on, can cause web breaks, and downtime caused by paper breaks during printing is the biggest waste of paper. Those well-known, paper-efficient papers help reduce breakage. The paper's paper-moving nature is a problem that every manufacturer should pay attention to. Don't try to be cheap and give up those branded products. The printing business should also have its own database, indicating those that are easy to use and those that cannot be used, rather than relying solely on the grade and weight of the paper provided by the manufacturer.
Other characteristics of the paper also help to speed up the color realization of the paper, thereby reducing paper consumption. Smoothness is good for point-to-point color reproduction; white tone can eliminate color compensation when registering; coating materials absorb water and ink less than normal materials.
Other ways to reduce waste include:
* If possible, use a fixed roll of paper as much as possible. This can reduce the waste of paper that can result from web replacement and print adjustments.
* Train employees' ability to adapt to different paper and printing conditions.
* Check the variety of paper. Look for coating, wood pulp, etc. If the machine always uses the same kind of paper, it will help reduce the waste paper rate in printing.
* Pay attention to wrapping the roll and stacker to avoid bending and damage.
9. Be careful not to take the risk of accidentally cutting paper. Check the roll first and then trim it on the ink console. In the past, Quebecor World did not pay attention to this situation. It cost about 18 pounds per roll of paper. "A year's worth of waste, you can put Boston back to Kelaivaran." Reed said, "Now the company Taken measures, the amount of waste is only about 1 pound and a half."
X. Compared with other companies in the same industry, whether formal or informal, there is a great advantage compared with other companies in the industry. The "1999-2000 View of the past, present & future" published by the Web Offset Printing Association has statistics on this aspect. Dixon also published monthly statistics on his website.
Action Printing is more comprehensive and compares both inside and outside. The foreign company compares the amount of waste printed each time with the average industry level, and statistics are also made between each class within the group.
This data-sharing comparison can benefit the company. A Wisconsin company learned of this deficiency and re-adjusted its production. Quebecor World, through its internal three-shift comparison, promoted advanced experience and put waste paper under strict control. .