Tresu reports wider web interest at Labelexpo Americas 2016

At Labelexpo Americas 2016, Tresu highlighted its ink supply systems, chilling units and chamber doctor blade systems. The Tresu chamber doctor blade program covers all converting and coating applications, and ranges from closed-cassette chambers for label presses to corrosion-resistant carbon fiber chambers in excess of 6000mm (236in) width for corrugated board printing. The chambers’ rubber seal system prevents leakage and air contamination, thereby ensuring clean, blister-free print result with fast drying characteristics, better reflection and higher gloss values. When doctor blades need replacing, Tresu’s patented clamping systems enable changeovers in less than two minutes.

Tresu said it received many enquiries about wider web chambers at Labelexpo Americas 2016, which Tresu Americas president Scott Hibbs attributed to the ‘trend towards diversification’, in terms of both product offering and print technologies.

‘Some offer both label and flexible packaging, others combine both flexo and offset processes. That’s why at Labelexpo we saw interest from folding carton and flexible packaging converters, as well as from the narrow web sector.’

Tresu notes that chamber doctor blades, especially when combined with its F10 iCon ink supply system, provide an enclosed, automatic means of controlling flow rate, pressure and viscosity, from bucket to anilox roll. F10 iCon is an intelligent ink flow system that provides pressure-controlled ink to the press at a consistent flow rate, according to predetermined parameters. The system also returns approximately 90 percent of ink remaining in the press to the bucket after the production run, and provides fast, thorough automatic cleaning of the chamber and hoses.

Hibbs continued that a ‘major challenge’ for label and packaging printers is to guard margins and drive waste out of the workflow as run lengths decrease and maintain repeatable quality, stating ‘the answer is to control processes through automation.

‘We specialize in providing turnkey solutions for controlling the entire flexo process, through upgrading the chambers, ink systems, temperature control systems and dryers, as well as making the press compatible for different ink sets, driving more money to the bottom line. We have strong engineering expertise, so we can offer control solutions that cover every flexo application, from labels to 6m-wide corrugated presses. Equally importantly, with our global agency network, we also have the right structure to offer retrofitting programmes smoothly, bringing printing presses, which in some cases have seen more than 15 years of service, to the latest standards of productivity, process efficiency and quality.

‘Tresu’s chamber doctor blade systems were featured and demonstrated on machines of several press manufacturers at the show,’ added Hibbs. ‘This generated interest both from printers seeking new presses and those looking for upgrades of existing machines.’