Offset Printing
Data-sharing developments from BALDWIN Vision Systems promise to change how printers manage production, print customers and personnel
Monday 24. September 2018 - BALDWIN Vision Systems (BVS) will showcase the latest developments and new features for its growing portfolio of defect detection and color management technology at Labelexpo Americas (booth 1339, September 25-27, Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Chicago).
The new Vision Systems business unit of Baldwin Technology Company, Inc. unites former brands PC Industries, QuadTech, and Web Printing Controls into a “print technology powerhouse,” according to Isaam Lutfiyya, Director of Global Sales & Marketing for BVS.
“Visitors to our booth will get a first look at some truly exciting new technical achievements,” says Mr. Lutfiyya. “It is clear now that combining engineering talent and resources is already bearing fruit, bringing proven technology to the next level.”
One “first look” is the Guardian RTM, a new real-time quality monitoring and reporting tool for the Guardian PQV advanced 100 percent print inspection. Guardian RTM uses a central server to monitor, collect, and display real-time inspection data for multiple presses and jobsand even across multiple plantson a simple, uncluttered dashboard user interfaceMr. Lutfiyya comments, “This data-connecting technology allows printers to track and compare many different production metrics. Press managers can monitor changes as they happen, and make highly-informed decisions about print quality, defect management, and even operator-to-operator performance. This is a unique competitive advantage, in that its truly the first product of its kind to tie together how you manage your processes, your print customers, and even your people. Youre empowered to quickly identify any mechanical issues, process inefficiencies, or even tailor your operator training to eliminate defects. This new platform opens the door to build even more functionality into the system.”
Additional enhancements to the Guardian PQV include automated setup and automated job changeover, limiting operator intervention for a more efficient and accurate inspection process. The system provides true 100 percent print inspection for pharmaceutical, converting, label, flexo, wide, and narrow web applications. Other defect management solutions featured at the show include Guardian OLP PDF proofing and offline inspection, Guardian LSI inspection, and GV-500 Series digital web viewers.
Color management workflow technology featured at booth 1339 includes ColorTrack software, which automates the process of delivering absolute consistency from press-to-press, shift-to-shift, and plant-to-plant. Significant advancements being demonstrated include options for customized out of tolerance alerts, capabilities to reduce changeover time and leftover ink, precise calculation of required ink quantities during job setup, per-job monitoring of real ink costs, and the ability to manage conditions across different processes, presses, and facilities to guarantee brand color fidelity. New data gathering, production monitoring, and reporting tools will enable quality managers to deliver full production overviews to print buyers and brand owners. These enhancements provide even greater control for highly accurate, fast, press-side correction of ink formulations.
Color Measurement with DeltaCam delivers affordable, accurate inline spectral measurement to achieve absolute color consistency. Packaging converters can utilize automated, full spectral value measurementin agreement with ISO standardson film, paper, or board, ensuring that all printed products are within their customers color specifications. Using InkWeigh software and scales, press operators can eliminate trial and error by weighing and tracking ink corrections at the press for each client, each job. Printers can fully track ink inventories for the creation of new recipes, for managing leftovers, for ensuring full traceability, and for optimizing ink storage to greatly reduce waste and cost.
Scheduled demonstrations of color management solutions will take place at 10:00, 12:00, 2:00, and 4:00 each day of the show. Personal demonstrations of both defect management and color management solutions will be given on request.
According to Mr. Lutfiyya, “The launch of new products and features will demonstrate our heightened focus on providing the latest solutions to meet market demand for fast, accurate, and increased quality control. These enhancements exemplify our commitment to delivering future-proof systems that regularly undergo updates to ensure they meet printers changing requirements. The Industry 4.0 technology on display at Labelexpo Americas is a sign of things to come from BALDWIN Vision Systems.”