Martin Krümpelmann (second from left) presenting the Münsterland Innovations Award, with Dr Jürgen Vutz, CEO/W&H, and the team members Dr Holger Deleré, Manfred Loddenkötter and Dietmar Pötter, manager of W&H's printing and finishing business unit (
Four gold medals and one silver marked a successful 2005 for Windmöller & Hölscher’s Printing and Finishing Business Unit. Entered in more than five awards, two of the company’s revolutionary new developments stood out against competitors.
EASY-SET, the automatic impression setting system was a big winner, gaining second prize in the Münsterland Innovations Award competition; gold in the technical achievement category by the European Flexographic Technical Association (UK); and the Technical Innovations Award by the US FTA.
Head of the W&H New Technologies Team in the printing machinery sector, Martin Krümpelmann, says he is proud of the achievements of EASY-SET.
"EASY-SET is not only the first system in the world to automate the intricate job of impression setting on flexographic printing presses, but in addition provides reproducible impression settings independent of external influences," says Krümpelmann.
The machine saves time when setting up the press for a new job, reduces unavoidable start up waste on job changeovers, and contributes to economising on natural resources.
"Realistic calculations have proved that with EASY-SET incorporated in just a single flexo press film savings corresponding to the distance between Lengerich and Munich can be achieved."
The other revolutionary innovation W&H winner was the RSP (Register_Scan_Preset).
In October, the American Packaging and Label Gravure Association elected the system to receive the gold Technical Achievement Award, and the European Gravure Association (ERA) immediately followed suit in November with the 2005 Innovations Prize.
The award from two international gravure associations impressively highlighted the outstanding innovative power reflected in RPS, which has since become a standard feature on all Heliostar G gravure presses delivered by W&H.
RSP is a fully automatic register set-up system for gravure printing presses which scans the gravure cylinders as well as the substrate web as it passes through the print stations, in this way recording all parameters that are necessary in order to set up the register.
At the push of a button, RSP completes the critical and time consuming register presetting operation which is a requirement for subsequent fine tuning to ensure perfect colour to colour registration during printing. Advantages of RSP include reduced waste, shorter set-up times and increased effective up-time of the gravure press. Like EASY-SET, RSP helps W&H customers reduce their production costs and increase the productivity of their printing operations.
