Offset Printing - UV/LED Curing

When you start thinking about entering the UV printing market, allow for the growth of your business and future possibilities. Consent to adding some of the extras now and you make the retrofits much more economical and physically possible in the future as your business grows.

Take care of the tools used to make your living. The correct approach is to schedule maintenance as a job. Don’t look at this time as money lost but as money you have saved with less down time and more production.

A strong argument can be made for having a press equipped with in-line UV printing and coating capabilities, and it goes like this: Many of your competitors cannot, or will not, make the leap to UV because of the financial commitment involved.

Why are there so many UV printers out there that have made the investment and not “Run What They Bought?” Why under utilize what you have spent all of the money on? The answers could be one of or a combination of many things.

What’s truly considered to be a fair expectation from the manufacturers? Are you expecting too much just because you decided to make the capital investment? Or should you carry some of the burden as the consumer? You know the saying; “An educated consumer makes the best customer.” This is also true when purchasing UV equipment. With or without a printing press attached.

LED UV was one of the new buzzwords in Chicago this year at PRINT 09. Many exhibitors were talking about it, but the true question is, "How far are we from actually using this new technology in the pressroom?"

Over the years I have run across a number of printers that thought they had everything figured out until their new machine actually went into production. How often does the “AS SEEN ON TV” ad actually come true? There are times when the “DON’T TRY THIS STUNT AT HOME” theory comes into play.

I’m sure all of us had someone in our family, through the years, that collected coins. Maybe it was your mother, father, aunt or a grandparent? Perhaps not to the extent of an advanced collector, consistently buying and selling, but possibly just a cookie jar or coffee can stuck away in the bedroom closet. Or for those real treasure seekers, a mason jar buried in the back yard. Usually sitting there filled with some loose coins and the thoughts of saving them over time in hopes they will increase in value.

I realize that with the economic conditions we all currently face, there is a need to separate yourself from your competition. I’m sure you have all heard the saying "The strong get stronger." Is UV printing the answer? Absolutely, if you feel you have done your homework and investigated all of the possibilities, both good and not so good.

Packaging, plastic & commercial printers swap stories - The second annual Print UV Conference was held this March in Las Vegas. The sold-out event attracted 150 attendees and a broad range of sponsors.

According to Steve Metcalf, president and CEO of Air Motion Systems (AMS), the conference's success is a testament to the technology's growth. “Just trying to cover UV in one breakout session is inadequate,” he says. “Once a printer invests in UV it opens the door to so many variables. Beyond the [growth] opportunities, there's the challenge of getting familiar with inks, chemistries, coating formulations and