Moving into High-End Commercial Print? UV Might Be the Key
Benford UV (Booth N826) are specialists in the design, manufacture, and provision of UV, IR, and hot air drying and curing solutions for the printing industry.
Its prospective customers generally fall into one of the following categories:
- Wanting to retrofit an existing operational press with a UV curing system.
- Purchasing a new printing press and looking for the best UV curing system.
- Wanting to replace their current UV system because of poor performance or the availability of more modern technology.
The primary driver in the move to UV printing is wanting to address new high-end commercial printing markets, and to increase the volume of work going through print operations. UV curing enhances the print quality, and produces sharper and cleaner images with a multitude of different finishes available. There is a wider choice of substrates you can print to beyond paper and cardboard, including plastic, metallized sheets, wood, and fabric. The UV curing process is an instant drying chemical reaction as the product passes the UV lamp with no heat required for drying. This means the print products can move immediately to post-production, for cutting, binding, or any other finishing required. The UV curing process is also lower in energy consumption, and is a lot cleaner, leading to less maintenance, and making it ideal for long print runs. Clearly for a printing operation, all these mentioned benefits lead to both increased revenue and profit opportunities.
The choice between conventional UV lamps and LED-UV lamps needs to be looked at carefully to decide on the right technology to achieve the desired outcomes. UV inks are cheaper than LED-UV inks, and often provide a better finish with coating and varnishes, however LED-UV uses less energy. We have customers where we have provided a mix of these technologies within the press configuration, and which are interchangeable to provide greater flexibility.
Benford UV’s design and manufacturing capability means that the company can treat each and every customer as a unique and customized opportunity. They carry out site visits involving design engineers as well as people with decades of experience in running print operations, allowing the company to deliver a precise and best solution for the customer. This detailed planning also reduces downtime during installation, as well as knowledge sharing and training. Benford UV operates in more than 10 countries, and have fitted UV curing systems to presses from more than 14 different printing press manufacturers, meaning there are very few challenges they have not seen and been able to meet.
Visit the booth to get the best advice for your drying system requirements. There you can meet Marc Boden, founder and managing director, who has 34 years of experience of working in the UV curing industry. In addition, Patricia Estrada Sanchez, Benford UV’s chief design engineer, and Alan Albon an expert in UV printing, will be available for consultations.
