'Lean printing' interview: Prof Malcolm Keif and Prof Kevin Cooper

Lean management, or driving as much waste as possible out of the workflow, is the buzzword 'du jour' in manufacturing today. Waste elimination has become something of a necessity, as intense competition, economic uncertainty, volatile raw materials prices and the move to short production runs puts pressure on profit margins.

On May 8, 2012, two experts in this field, Prof Malcolm Keif and Prof Kevin Cooper gave a presentation on 'lean printing' for packaging converters at the Drupa 2012 stand of GSE Dispensing. After the presentation, this interview was recorded.

Prof Keif and Prof Cooper, from the Graphic Communication Department of the California Polytechnic State University, have researched and published extensively on lean management (eg 'Lean Printing' and 'Setup Reduction for Printers').

Prof Keif specialises in flexography, quality management, lean thinking and printed electronics. He has worked in the print and packaging industry for over 20 years.

Prof Cooper has worked in printing and manufacturing for over 20 years. He is a professor of graphic communication and actively presents and consults with printers on lean management methods.

GSE Dispensing helps packaging printers reduce ink waste from the workflow with gravimetric ink dispensing systems that mix spot colors in less than two minutes, table-top flexo ink proofing systems and ink management software that provides per-job ink costings, real-time stock analysis, tracking of all inks to original batches and various management reports.