On Wednesday, June 24th, Heidelberg held its Environmental Technology Inforum. The event was held to provide information to customers, potential customers and the industry as a whole about what solutions Heidelberg has to offer to improve a printer’s environmental impact and in-turn improve their bottom line. They explained to us what the main contributors are to waste creation within a print shop and the machinery itself and how they have identified and addressed these specific areas individually to improve the efficiency of print shops.
Ray Fagan, product manager, Sheetfed Large Format, Heidelberg Canada was the first to speak and he let us know about what Heidelberg has been doing to improve the environmental impact of their equipment for many years, long before it became fashionable and marketable. Committed to environmental leadership, Heidelberg is ISO 14001 certified and believes this certification is the most stringent test a company can put itself through, with rigorous, continuous improvement efforts necessary to stay certified.
Next to speak was Melissa Peneycad, consultant and research manager from TerraChoice Environmental Marketing Inc. Melissa explained the EcoLogo program, why third-party verification is important in an increasingly skeptical world and what to watch out for in companies that may be green-washing.
We then heard from Richard Czarnecki, vice-president of technology, Superior Printing Inks, who informed us about the value of using Saphira Bio Process Inks. We learned that these inks are the only ones in North America to achieve third-party environmental certification through EcoLogo. Saphira Bio Process Inks have low VOCs due to their high percentage of vegetable oils as opposed to petroleum based oils. The inks have a high lithographic performance, they comply with current environmental regulations, they have fast setting and drying performance and they reduce makeready times. Not only are these inks made with 30% or more vegetable oil content and renewable and sustainable raw materials, but they are helping print shops become more efficient by reducing drying and waiting times. One customer reported that they could cut printed sheets in as little as 10 minutes after coming off the press and have the job in the bindery in less than two hours. This is due to the fast drying properties of its bio content.
The final speaker at the event was this magazine’s good friend and editorial board member Steve Klaric, product manager, Sheetfed Small Format. Steve gave us a live demonstration of what the Speedmaster SM 52 with Anicolor can do to help shops reduce their makeready times and get up to colour faster than ever before. Print shops will be able to use this new technology to reduce their makeready times from 13 to 7 minutes. They will also be able to reduce their makeready waste from 200 sheets to 20 sheets; and with the highest amount of waste in a print shop coming from paper, according to Heidelberg’s studies, these savings are very significant. Steve showed us the 5th, 15th and 20th sheet from the makereadies and the press was almost instantaneously up-to-colour on the first couple of sheets. These advantages in makeready times/waste and getting up-to-colour are due to the exact ink film thickness and a shorter ink path. They have a format-size individual temperature control of the screen roller for precise ink metering and a format-size inking form roller for printing with minimal ghosting. There are many advantages to using this press. In fact, the only “disadvantage” seems to be that clients may not have the workload to keep it occupied because the press could potentially get the week’s work done in three days. We both agreed while talking later that having this excess capacity to fill is a great problem to have and is just another opportunity for profit. Steve told me that Heidelberg will continue to work hard to create profit opportunities like this for their customers.
