Finishing Equipment
Rotoflex raises the bar in finishing
Canadian manufacturer Rotoflex has long set the industry standard for inspection and rewind technology. Senior vice president Kevin Gourlay assesses the current market trends and explains how the company is responding to changes in demand.
W
ith production effi ciency being the diff erence between profi t and loss, the need for accuracy and consistent quality in printed
products is key to securing and retaining business. This chimes especially true with the major brands, which demand global uniformity. With run lengths declining and demand for versioning leading to an increase in SKUs, it has never been more important to control the fi nishing process precisely.
Showcased at Labelexpo Americas 2024, the VLI-700 is targeted at the mid-web sector where high speed is required to produce fl exible packaging with fi lmic substrates.
There are two trends driving growth in the quest for added value right now; wider webs and automation. This was particularly noticeable at the recent Labelexpo Americas, where we saw a growing interest from the label sector in moving to wider web fi nishing machines. This is the knock-on eff ect of the increased sales of mid web sized presses, from 22” to 30” width - 560mm to 760mm, as converters look to diversify their label business and move into fl exible packaging and shrink sleeves. In response to this, we showcased the Rotofl ex VLI-700 (28”) at the Chicago trade fair, with speeds of up to 2,000 ft/min. Equipped with servo technology, the VLI-700 can achieve perfect tension and control of the web, which is essential for consistent accuracy at high speed. The other growing market trend that is being experienced across the industry is customer demand for more automation. In Rotofl ex terms, this means automatic knife set-up and automatic sensor settings. This is not being driven entirely by the ongoing need for greater effi ciency, it is also in response to the global shortage of skilled machine operators and the seeming inability of the industry to attract the younger generation into a production environment. With the cost of R&D in today’s highly competitive marketplace and the complexity of technology involved, there is a growing demand for and use of third-party products in the fi nishing sector. At Rotofl ex, we notice this, especially with technology like automatic vision systems and variable inkjet information systems for security. As the packaging end-product becomes more complex and moves further away from being simply a printed identifi er of what is contained inside, think smart labels etcetera, then the technology required to produce these items in high-quality and at high-speed will of necessity become more complex too and more expensive.
20
Dec 2024 / Jan 2025
www.convertermag.com
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