Lean ink management

Lean ink management

A workshop at Drupa looked at tying ink dispensing systems into a lean manufacturing environment. Andy Thomas reports

Two senior academics and specialists in lean management workflows, Prof. Malcolm Keif and Prof. Kevin Cooper provided advice for packaging printers on how to drive waste from the workflow and adopt lean production methods during a seminar held at the drupa stand of GSE Dispensing.

Keif and Cooper, from the graphic communication department of the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, USA, have researched and published extensively on lean management.

Cooper, a professor of graphic communication, said: ‘We think lean management is portable and applicable to every industry. Printers too are driven to look for leaner production methods because of the increasingly competitive conditions facing their industry right now.’

‘Lean management is principled on two foundational items: continuous improvement and respect for people,’ Cooper added. ‘Both of these are focused on finding ways to create value and to drive waste out of the business. To make printers more competitive at a time when printing runs are getting shorter, we think it is critical to adopt lean principles, reduce setup times and be focused on customer value, to remain competitive in printing.’

Keif, who specializes in flexography, quality management, lean thinking and printed electronics, explained that good color management has an important role to play in the lean manufacturing environment: ‘So much of the preparation time is dedicated to color-matching on press. We know of job changeovers taking over an hour because of the efforts needed for ink toning and getting the right match for a spot color. It is impossible to maintain a lean environment unless one takes the color-matching process offline. The printer must aim to get the perfect color-match on the first attempt after starting up the press. A robust process is needed to ensure color perfection. GSE Dispensing brings that to the table with its dispensing systems, ink management software and proofing systems.’

Cooper added: ‘The first stage in the adoption of a lean process is education because one has to understand the concept first, build teams, and empower and manage the workforce.’

Keif and Cooper, who have both worked in the graphics industry for over 20 years, have co-authored a book focused on lean management issues entitled ‘Setup Reduction for Printers’.

Maarten Hummelen, marketing director at GSE Dispensing, commented: ‘The high level of competition, volatile raw materials prices and shorter production runs make the search for added value more acute than ever. Packaging print converters must adopt a lean management philosophy to combat these challenges. We share Keif and Cooper’s vision of a lean value chain. Everything we do is aimed at empowering printers to apply that vision in an ink logistics context as well.’

GSE Dispensing manufacturers gravimetric ink dispensing systems that mix spot colors in less than three minutes, along with table-top flexo proofing systems and software that provides per-job ink costings, real-time stock analysis, tracking of all inks to original batches and various management reports. Recently, the capability was added to connect the ink dispensing/mixing system directly into the Cerm management information system.

Slim upgrade

GSE Dispensing has enhanced its Colorsat Slim gravimetric dispenser with a sturdier weighing unit that weighs dosages up to a maximum 25kg to an accuracy of just one gram. A new wet and dry cleaning unit cleans the system after each dispense cycle, saving maintenance time. Key components such as the label printer and barcode scanner have been integrated into the control console. The addition of quick couplers to the hoses connecting the ink barrels to the dispenser makes faster, cleaner exchange of barrels possible, without risk of dripping. The redesign of the dispense head enables height adjustments to accommodate buckets of maximum 470mm.

Pictured: (L-R) Professors Kevin Cooper and Malcolm Keif hold a seminar on lean printing at the GSE Dispensing stand Drupa 2012

This article was published in L&L issue 4, 2012.

Andy Thomas

  • Strategic director