UV LED Opens up New Possibilities for Grafiche Antiga
Printing house Grafiche Antiga has an enviable client list, producing print and 3D point-of-sale for a range of leading brands under the Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy umbrella, including Bulgari, Versace, Ralph Lauren, and Michael Kors, among many others.
The business was formed in 1968 by the four Antigas brothers, Silvio, Franco, Carlo, and Mario, and now employs some 200 people at six sites.
Amos Michielin is Grafiche Antiga's Press Manager, responsible for all print production output from their central plant. He describes how the nature of the company's client base has led them to invest in UV LED technology: "Our customer is demanding... very demanding. As a result, we've always been very careful to keep a close eye on technological evolutions in printing. UV curing was one such innovation that we could not ignore, as it allows us to do things that we could not do without it.”
Amos Michielin is Grafiche Antiga's Press Manager, responsible for all print production output. | Credit: GEW
Grafiche Antiga’s high-end work requires them to constantly push the boundaries of what is possible, using state-of-the-art printing techniques and technology to achieve exceptional results. Michielin explains: "We can print every project for our customers with LED. For example, we can print with high gloss varnish, with whites on natural papers, we can print on laminated paper, with one pass, with the white in the first unit and four-color on. We can print on PVC, in one face four-color and white... black... every type of project, no problem.”
Having also worked with conventional mercury arc UV systems, Michielin was aware of the sustainability benefits of curing with LED UV, as he explains: “Today our customers pay more and more attention to the environmental impact of our work. Curing with LED has a significantly lower impact, both for ozone emissions and energy consumption, when compared to a conventional UV system. Greener printing is important to our customers, and UV LED gives us an advantage by enabling us to offer this." He adds: "Further to this, because the energy consumption is so much lower than before, it is an investment that pays for itself quickly, in just a few years.”
Grafiche Antiga's headquarters is one of six sites that the company owns. | Credit: GEW
After thoroughly researching the UV LED curing market and several potential UV suppliers, Michielin narrowed his focus to GEW. This included visiting the company's UK factory and central manufacturing site. He comments: "When I visited GEW in London, I saw the organization... not only the lamps and the system, I saw the buildings, I saw the people, the technicians... and I had no doubts."
Once the buying decision had been made, Michielin put GEW in direct contact with the press manufacturer, Koenig & Bauer. The two parties worked closely to ensure a successful UV system integration with Grafiche Antiga’s new Rapida 105-5+C machine. Michielin comments, "They communicated immediately and gave me the result I wanted. The LED UV system is a perfect integration. It's very versatile because we have five lamps - three in the delivery and two interdeck, and I can move the interdeck in every print unit within two minutes.
The company produces print and 3D point-of-sale for a wide range of renowned brands. | Credit: GEW
“Sometimes we have special jobs to do with whites on natural papers. This can lead to using two print units for the white. Being able to quickly move a lamp from first to second position allows us to be even more productive and have less machine downtime. It's straightforward. You can control everything with one finger and one touch panel. We don't have any problems, and we almost forget we have the UV system in the machine… it is so simple to use, easy, and reliable."
Michielin continues on the topic of production benefits, "With the LED system, the sheet is dry immediately, giving sharper images and a more vibrant color, particularly on uncoated papers. Sheets can go immediately in the finisher, and the print quality is always preserved, one hundred percent. Removing the need for spray powder further reduces quality issues and creates a cleaner environment.”
The UV lampheads can easily be interchanged between print stations for complete production flexibility.
Looking back on working with traditional UV arc at Grafiche Antiga, Michielin observes: "In the past, we have used highly reactive UV drying systems… this gave us problems with production times, having to wait for bulbs to start up and cool down. Also, when we had to wash the blankets, we had to turn off the system for safety and then turn it back on; therefore, the standby times were long, and productivity was affected. Today, with the UV LED system, we don't have any machine downtime. The system turns off and back on instantly… it has greatly shortened our production times.”
The new UV LED system is backed up with full technical support from GEW and Fornietic, although Michielin has yet to put this support network to the test, as he explains: “GEW gave us complete satisfaction with regard to assistance, as the UV system is connected remotely; every day it is monitored and we receive a monthly productivity report. This is also very useful for scheduling maintenance of the system itself. GEW has rapid and local technical support through Fornietic, who will arrive within a few hours to fix any problem… but this has never happened so far.”
Michielin summarizes his view on the new working relationship with GEW: “When we started, we were looking not only for a supplier but also a partner, and GEW, for Grafiche Antiga, is a partner.”
UV lamps can be moved between interdeck and delivery positions in minutes.
