The Mark Andy performance series P7 press at Hammer Packaging
A Mark Andy performance series P7 press and a Rotoflex VLI 440 finishing system have been installed at Hammer Packaging in Rochester, New York.
The new 17 inch, 10 colour press includes combination hot air drying/UV curing, a Mark Andy QCDC (Quick Change Die Cut) unit, web turnbar, cold foil, and lamination capabilities.
Hammer Packaging supplies a wide array of products for many national brands. These products include cut and stack, shrink sleeve, pressure sensitive, foam, and in-mould labels. In addition, it is the largest supplier of premium seed packets for the horticultural market. To support this range of products, the company is adding its first Mark Andy press to its arsenal of eight web presses. Existing printing capabilities include sheetfed offset, VSOP (Variable Sleeve Offset Printing), narrow web flexo and digital.
‘In selecting this new press we were focused on lead time efficiency, specifically in terms of changeovers, speed of the press, and overall quality of the completed work,’ said Jim Hammer, president and CEO. ‘The changeover process is what drew us to the P7; how quick it was to change from one job to the next was exactly what we were looking for in a press. The production speeds, quality of the print, and the width of the machine were also an excellent fit for our mix of work.’
Mr Hammer reported that the early results from the press have lived up to the company’s expectations. Productivity is up close to 60% over its current flexo machines and speeds have increased due to better registration and new blade holder technology. ‘Our operators are very pleased with the machine and technology. They all took to the machine very well,’ he added.
The company’s second investment, a Rotoflex VLI 440 inspection rewind system, is designed for high speed production of film, film packaging and other tension-sensitive substrates. The system acquired by the company includes a roll mapping option that coordinates with press side inspection systems to provide a defect map for individual rolls. ‘We selected the VLI because of the available equipment options and lead time, and to more efficiently remove print defects from print master rolls,’ said Mr Hammer. ‘We were drawn to this option because we expect to see improved press and slitter throughput with this capability.’
He concluded, ‘We are excited about our growing flexo presence in the packaging market. We will not only look for redundancy in equipment and processes, but we see growth in wider formats with inkjet technology.’
