Amherst Label upgrades UV system for speed and production reliability

In May 2011, Amherst Label of Milford, New Hampshire, installed the servo-driven press with water-cooled substrate cooling. The new equipment provided advanced capabilities for printing unsupported films, six UV ink curing stations, cold foil applications and quick changeover sleeve technology.

In January 2015, Amherst Label decided to retrofit a GEW UV system, comprised of eight E2C high-efficiency lampheads, owing to concerns with lack of curing at speed, reliability issues and maintenance downtime.

Scott Vander-Heyden, vice president of Manufacturing at Amherst Label, said: ‘We had experienced insufficient curing at medium to higher speeds, as well as unnecessary downtime due to UV system failures. As a matter of fact, we were on the verge of losing business from some of our customers. We knew we had to correct this issue. Only GEW was able to offer a package of efficiency, reliability and safe curing at high speeds.’

The GEW UV system also offers fast burn-in and shutdown times with savings in electricity consumption.

‘We are able to cure at half the power,’ added Vander-Heyden. ‘We are thrilled with the GEW system. We are now experiencing increased up time, increased run speeds, overall efficiencies have improved and most importantly, our customers are happy.’

Nilpeter recently confirmed the first press orders featuring GEW's new ArcLED hybrid UV curing system.