The name Pamarco is synonymous with the production of anilox rolls and
so it should be,
the company is one of the largest suppliers to the world market but in
the UK it is much
more. The imaging division is a sleeping giant that is about to wake
and the solutions
division provides a whole range of consumables and technical services
for the printer.
Martin White visited the company’s headquarters in the UK at
Warrington.
Pamarco Global Graphics has aworldwide turnover of in
excess of $100 million employing
400 people that covers services to
the offset, gravure and flexo markets,
flexo accounts for 48% of the business.
The company has 11 locations
in the USA and has recently opened a
new manufacturing site for anilox
near Toronto in Canada.
At the recent CMM exhibition in
Chicago, Pamarco purchased two
new Hercules lasers from Applied
Laser Engineering (ALE) for the
production of anilox that will be
installed in USA with one going into
a new facility in California, furthermore
plans are ahead to purchase a
further laser from ALE for the Warrington
site next year.
In the UK the company has three
locations two in Warrington,
Cheshire that is responsible for the
production of anilox rolls and the
distribution of solutions (cleaning
products and plate mounting sleeves from Rotec) and a site in Nelson,
Lancashire that is primarily responsible
for the manufacture of photopolymer
printing plates to the flexo
market. Encapsulating the whole
operation in the UK that is led by
vice president sales and operations,
David McBeth, is the emphasis of
one supplier, one solution philosophy
and with it, its VIP (Value in
Print) which links all three divisions
with a focus to maximise the value
from the print processes by improving
productivity, quality and consistency
whilst reducing waste,
downtime and opening new market
opportunities for its customers.
Additionally the company supplies
most consumables needed to get the
ink onto the substrate that are available
and with them industry experts to help
printers get the best possible results
from the anilox and printing plate.
Whilst in the UK most of the company’s
production of anilox is bound for
markets outside its shores (70%) it claims to have about 45% of the
home
market serving the corrugated and
packaging industry. This year it expects
growth of 15% that includes the burgeoning
market of anilox rolls for coating
in the offset sector.
Imaging
division
The development of flexo printing
plates at Nelson historically has centred
on the production of plates for
the corrugated market. With investment
taking place across the whole
UK operation £400,000 has been
invested in the imaging division
whereby the company is about to
develop and expand into the markets
of flexible packaging and labels.
Investment has included a large
format CDI from Esko that comes
with software workflow programs
branded Deskpack, FlexRip, Back-
Stage and WebCenter. Also it has
purchased an AV Flexologic 2500
plate mounter with automatic plug-in
software. The flat mount table is capable of mounting any job with a
print area up to 2500 x 1700mm.
Explains Paul Smith responsible
for plate production: ‘We are now in
a position to grow this side of the
business substantially, we have liquid
and solid plate production and while
we will continue to major on the corrugated
market the new investment
will provide the impetus to expand
into the flexible and label markets.’
Anilox
division
Production of anilox rolls is made
from a total of seven lasers using
CO2 and fibre technology, the largest
production site in the UK. Part of
the company’s growth in anilox production
this year has come about
through a recent investment that
provides a coating to the anilox
called Triplex.
Triplex coating at Warrington
began in March, it is a fully computerised
system and it is a part of a
global standardisation plan implemented
by Pamarco. The system’s
success is based on a standard lay
down of coating that is consistent
across all the company’s anilox operation
globally, so crucial is the consistency
that tests are made four
times a year by Sulzer Coatings in
Switzerland that are supplied by each
of Pamarco’s manufacturing sites
worldwide. The advantage to printers
is that any anilox can be produced
from any of the company’s
sites and exact consistency is guaranteed.
Furthermore specifications for
anilox configurations globally are
stored at Pamarco’s headquarters in
the USA and UK. Needless to say,
the company is working with OEMs
on this standard for the anilox.
Glyn McKay, plant manager for
production, cites the advantages of
Triplex coatings as consistent, less
porous, denser and a harder coating
(1500 vickers+) and less prone to
score lines. He explains: ‘Keeping the
anilox working to its optimum is
essential to good print quality, so it is
necessary to be able to measure it and
obtain total analysis of cell geometry and condition. Our Cellbase
anilox
measuring instrument has been tested
and recommended by the Printing
and Coating department at Swansea
University, it boasts an advanced
measuring technology together with
software enabling total analysis of the
anilox cell to be obtained and the
ability to create a life cycle analysis of
the roll and more importantly, compare
the current condition with earlier
stages of its life.’
Solutions
division
Bringing together in the one package
that includes anilox and printing
plates is the Solutions division. Here
a whole range of ancillary products is
available along with printing expertise
and advice.
Intermediate and bridge sleeves
made by Rotec and backing tapes
made by tesa are available, a whole
range called Pamarco’s Care Cleaning
Range. This range comprises an
extensive list of washing and cleaning
liquids and pastes. All aspects of this
division come with a group of people
providing help and perhaps alternative
solutions to problems – Dave
Coe provides the expertise for the
cleaning range, he makes the point:
‘Different cleaning products are
needed for the various ink and printing
applications, sometimes the
wrong product is used that can have
an adverse effect on the life of the
anilox, where possible I like to advise
on alternatives.’
As part of the Value in Print
(VIP) team and well known to many
in the industry, Dudley Underwood
has been a printing expert for many
years. Since joining the company
last year from Smurfit he has put
together a training programme and
manual for printers that is linked to
training courses, he has also provided
a ‘fingerprint’ test plate that links
with the anilox so that the same
standard can be adopted with the
printing press manufacturer as with
the press owner/printer.
One of the key aspects and important
to printers is technical experts working with print companies to take
cost out of the business, commonly
referred to as lean manufacturing.
An analysis of the business is part of
the VIP remit and to this end it has
been proved many times that significant
sums of money can be saved off
the bottom line.
The
final word
David McBeth comments: ‘Our
European anilox division has seen a
growth of approximately 15% in the
first six months of 2007, this growth
has come mainly from the flexibles
and labels sectors utilizing our new
Triplex coating technologies and
LaserFlo engravings which allow
printers to run at much faster speeds
with less wear and almost eliminating
scoring issues. As a business
within the flexographic industry we
have become a true business partner
with our customers. Our Imaging
division is a key part of our success
and we have made the strategic decision
to invest in over £400,000
worth of new equipment in 2007 to
service our core markets and we also
look at new opportunities. Our VIP
consulting service has also been a
great success and adopted by many
of our major customers; it is
designed to help printers get the
most out of their pre-press and press
technology. We have invested heavily
in resource and employed not only
new sales people but also industry
technical experts that can review
anilox specifications via our microfax
and cellbase systems which are
classed as the only consistent measuring
method within the anilox marketplace.
Our on site care and
cleaning programmes utilize environmentally
friendly cleaning products
and also our training and classroom
sessions headed up by Dudley
Underwood, our technical director
who is also the technical director of
EFTA (UK). We have a very
focused approach moving into the
second half of 2007 in all three of
our divisions and we want to be recognized
as the ‘supplier of choice.’
 Visit PAMARCO Website
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