Specialty Printing surpasses corona landmark

Established in 1978 and now under second-generation family management, Specialty Printing began life as a billboard company. Today, its 130,000 sq ft plant houses 17 printing presses with web widths ranging from 10-30in, and with the capability of printing up to 14 colors.  It also operates a range of converting and finishing equipment.

Specialty Printing first installed Vetaphone corona treaters at its production facility in East Windsor, Connecticut, in 2011, boosting productivity across the wide range of customized labels it produces. 

Francis Poirier, senior vice president of operations at Specialty Printing, investment has seen one double sided and two single sided units installed on 28in and 30in machines. These have treated more than 1.1 billion feet of substrate to date, without a hitch, he calculates.

‘We installed our first corona treater in 2011, and 12 months later need another. By that stage our experience prompted us to look around the market, and in our opinion Vetaphone was the best way to go.  After all, it invented the technique back in the 1950s, so know more than anyone else about it.’

Materials used by Specialty Printing include thermal stocks, vinyl, film and foil, with water-based, solvent and UV inks and coatings used. ‘Many of the rolls come pre-treated, but as we move more into filmic materials, we shall need to corona treat everything in-house to be sure of the dyne level.’

He also hinted that Vetaphone’s EASI-Plasma technology might find an application with some of the new business he is anticipating. With the company looking to expand into the flexible packaging and electronics markets, a raft of new presses and ancillary equipment is likely to be needed soon at the East Windsor plant. Currently, output is around 70 percent thermal, but Poirier expects this to drop to 50:50 paper to film as the product portfolio changes. 

‘We like to make a plan and stay with it – that’s how you achieve maximum efficiency from the technology,’ concluded Poirier.

Vetaphone corona treaters also form part of the company’s Lean manufacturing program, with minimizing waste, whether materials or time, a key component of this.