A typical single colour print station
Consistency has always been a key consideration for printers, as a result, the industry is constantly on the lookout for ways to automate process and remove human error. When Focus Label Machinery Ltd wanted to incorporate further automation into its latest flexographic printing press, the company approached Bosch Rexroth.
Having received the brief, industry sector manager for printing and converting at Bosch Rexroth, Chris Nevin, designed a solution that, as well as increasing automation and consistency, would reduce energy consumption and provide increased flexibility for end users.
Mr Nevin said, ‘By implementing a proven combination of Rexroth software and technology solutions, we were quickly able to meet Focus Label Machinery’s demand for a high quality automated printing machine. By incorporating intelligent servo drives, we were able to share load specific demands between motors and drives ensuring the press operates at optimum efficiency and as a result, reducing energy demands. It also meant that we could minimise set up input allowing more consistent, repeatable results and provide end users with greater flexibility to meet the demands of different customers, no matter what the substrate.
‘By using Rexroth’s Indramotion for Printing software, in collaboration with the servo drive hardware, Focus is able to use commissioning visualisation to help customers’ move Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) towards parameterisation instead of programming. In-built screens further allow all the advanced control concepts to be visible alongside representative graphics, further easing the commissioning phase and simplifying fault finding.
‘Using scalable hardware with intelligent software means lower cost hardware can be used for simple applications and high performance hardware can be included as and when required without having to completely rewrite the application code. This is thanks to the software’s modular design. For example, if a customer has been printing using just four colours decides to upgrade to eight colours, this can be easily accommodated with the existing software.’
David Lee, managing director, Focus Label Machinery Ltd, said, ‘For our customers, the ability to serve and quickly adapt to a wide range of markets, whilst maintaining high levels of productivity, cost efficiency and quality, is key. By incorporating Rexroth’s servo drive technology with software that the company has developed specifically for the printing industry, we have been able to create a value added product that meets all of our customers’ needs. Bosch Rexroth’s high level of technical support was key to the success of this project.’
