Offset Printing
“VSOP: The ultimate press for various markets”
Monday 26. May 2008 - What printers say about Drent Goebel
Roger Miller and Jim Hammer both head up trend-setting printing companies in the United States. They invested in the VSOP from Drent Goebel. What were their motives for changing over to offset and how do they assess the press in day-to-day production?
– VSOP & Flexible Packaging –
Roger Miller: “This is the future”
“This changes everything.” That was the first thought of Roger Miller, CEO and company founder of Gateway Flexible Packaging, when he first saw Drent Goebels VSOP during the 2004 drupa show in Düsseldorf.
“Initially I was there to purchase the latest and greatest in flexo technology, Miller explains. “But when I paused at the Drent Goebel exhibit and saw two young women changing a job on their press, I knew that this was what I needed.”
What aroused Millers curiosity was the fact that quick-changeover sleeves, though standard practice for flexo and gravure, had never been available on an offset press. “If you wanted to change the repeat length on a conventional web offset press youd have to swap out the whole cassette, the entire print module. That would take hours and cost thousands of dollars because print modules are pretty expensive,” explains Miller.
After drupa, Miller visited the Drent Goebel facilities in Europe and saw a 44-inch press being constructed. He also saw the finished press running at the customers plant later on. When Miller indicated he was planning to use the press to print on flexible packaging, the Drent Goebel people were extremely interested. This was the direction they wanted to take this technology.
Biggest benefit: quality
Greg Petermeyer, General Manager, joined Roger on this European trip and he was first introduced to this new technology. “After drupa Roger came back and we had a long discussion about how VSOP technology could fit in the Gateway organization andhow we could benefit from this. During the remainder of the year we visited Drent Goebel and some of their facilities and began specifying the configuration. During these discussions we already started seeing the benefits that the new technology would offer us. The biggest benefit we saw and still see is the quality; it really brings magazine quality printing to the flexible packaging market. The offset printing process allows graphic designers to do more with the artwork and we as converters can take this artwork and create the actual package without the limitations we would normally have with flexographic printing.”
The press purchased by Gateway Packaging was the fourth wide-web variable press in the world. Its 49.5-inch web width is the largest width offered by Drent Goebel to date.
Miller takes over again: “With the Drent Goebel press, we can print two or three completely different colors at the same time from the same set of plates. We can print different colors because well be using manufactured colors, up to six and seven colors, to match any color in the rainbow. Now we can gang several different jobs across the web width to reduce waste and reduce the additional setup time, all without compromising print quality.”
Petermeyer adds: “To shorten the learning curve we hired experienced offset operators. We didnt convert the operators we already had on our flexo presses to the offset press as we wanted to directly optimize the efficiency of the VSOP press. We might end up transferring some of our flexo operators to the offset press, but only after we completely manage the core base on the VSOP.
Miller ends his comments. “This is the future. I think offset will eventually replace high quality flexography because it does the same thing flexo printing does but at a much higher rate of speed, with shorter set-up times, and with a dramatic improvement in print quality.”
– VSOP & Labels –
Jim Hammer: “Lead, dont follow”
Lead, dont follow. That is the philosophy of Hammer packaging, a 400-man strong company based in the Rochester, NY area. The company specializes in film and paper labels including cut-and-stack, and pressure sensitive.
The companys growth under current leader Jim Hammer has been impressive to say the least. He took charge of the company when it was a $ 1 million business and, last year, it reached the $ 100 million level.
Technology and innovation are key in the companys growth and are a major part of Jim Hammers vision of industry leadership. A great example of this philosophy is the companys investment in a Drent Goebel VSOP press with a 33-inch web width. This investment was made on the belief that Hammers customers would benefit from a lower cost alternative to gravure printing of shrink labels, while offering a higher quality option for flexo shrink applications.
Jim Hammer explains: “The technology this press offers is nothing short of spectacular.” He believes it fits well with the companys strength in offset printing and can be counted on to expand Hammers range of products and services – one of the companys key investment criteria.
A unique value-added alternative
“Our best opportunity to enter new markets that are traditionally serviced by rotogravure and central impression flexo is to offer a unique value-added alternative for which we have affinity,” he says.
“With the VSOP we are now offering offset printed shrink sleeves, ROSO labeling, and high-end roll-fed labeling. Ultimately, we see ourselves expanding into form, fill, and seal packaging as substrate technology grows to require fewer extrusions and more use of lamination.”
“With this kind of investment we aim to stay ahead of the pack, which is a big challenge in todays packaging industry.”