Equip 3000, located in Montcada i Reixac, (Barcelona) and with years of experience in the label and packaging sector in different technologies, has installed in one of its equipment 4 iUV UV LED units.
We interviewed Leonor Garcia, factory manager of the company, and we asked about her experience with the UV Led units after the installation in order to know all the benefits of this transition.
Hello, Leonor! Thank you very much for your time. First of all, we wanted to thank you for trusting Esagraf once again.
How did you come to the conclusion or the final decision that installing UV Led units in your equipment could be good for the company?
Very simple, we saw very clearly that the market trend is going in this direction and we did not want to be left behind. We knew that this decision would translate into savings, speed…
When it came to the installation, was there anything you were concerned about?
The only issue we were somewhat concerned about was the behavior of the inks. Our priority was that the change would be imperceptible to customers, that the inks would not change color, and at the beginning we didn't know 100% what we were going to find.
That was our main fear, to see how the printing would behave, but after talking to you we consulted our ink suppliers and we saw that they were all very prepared for this transition, there are many inks available on the market and although some are still missing, it is something that is already being worked on.
We decided to choose you and our suppliers supported our decision, that gave us peace of mind and also the fact that the LED ink also dries with conventional UV (not the other way around), that allowed us to prepare for the change, test the inks and see how they behave.
The machine, which has 8 printing units, has been configured with 4 UV LED units and the rest have been kept with conventional UV. Why did you choose this configuration?
Exactly, our machine has 8 printing units, the decision to install only 4 LED units for now was due to the varnishes and fluorescent inks, which are still not 100% ready, although they are gradually improving. That's why we installed the UV Led from unit 2 onwards. The second, third, fourth and fifth units have this new configuration; the first and the remaining 3 have been left with conventional UV and with this configuration we are able to cover all the printing needs, benefiting from the advantages of UV. Once the varnishes evolve, we will end up making the total transition to UV Led.
Regarding the installation, how was the experience?
The installation was perfect. We thought the changeover would be more ''traumatic'' but the truth is that it went very well. We had the technician working for 2 days, but the machine was not down for 5 hours. A good preparation of the installation also helped us to save time.
You have had the system installed for some time now: What benefits would you highlight between before and after the installation?
First of all, the machine operators are very happy with this change due to the speed both when starting to work and when shutting down the machine.
Another important benefit is the savings in cleaning reflective glass, filters and deflectors. These aspects ultimately translate into improved efficiency and productivity.
Another important point is that with the UV Led there is no heat, we save working with coolers because the material is not affected by the temperature.
In short, we are very happy with the change, we are very clear that the market is going in this direction and we want to go for it, and in the future we want to replicate this configuration in another machine.
From Esagraf we would like to thank Equip 3000 for allowing us to accompany them in this transition, which is undoubtedly a breakthrough, and Leonor for her time explaining her experience with the system already installed. For additional information, you reach us here.
