Are you in the process of purchasing a new press, or have you recently acquired one? Maybe you're looking to expand your capacity or secure new business in a different market segment. Here are a few ideas that you may want to consider during the process.
- Press Size- Are you expanding the max width of your current press capabilities? If so, you may want to make sure your prepress department can keep up with the additional capacity. You should consider running an efficiency study to ensure your plate format size and imaging speed can support the increase in platemaking volume and/or larger plates.
- Inks & Substrates- Are you planning on running a new ink system or new substrates to secure new business? You may want to run a fingerprint to establish printing conditions with these new variables. Additionally, you may need to consider firmer or softer plates based on the graphic requirements and the substrate surface energy. Is your color target the same between presses? If not, you will want to document these changes and ensure you are targeting the correct standard.
- Aniloxes- Are the aniloxes you currently have in-house interchangeable? If not, what aniloxes will you bring in? You should reach out to your anilox supplier to run a banded anilox test to confirm the anilox volume required for the graphics that will be printed on the new press. Don’t forget to coordinate with your ink supplier, too. You need to ensure inks are formulated for different anilox configurations, if needed.
- Consumables- What doctor blades, end seals, and mounting tape will you be using on this new press? Will it require a different blade configuration compared to what you are used to? Which mounting tape is best for larger or smaller cylinders? You should gather the recommendations based on the press manufacturer specifications and work with your consumable supplier to confirm their functionality according to your requirements.
- Color Management- Do you have a color viewing station and measurement device presside, or do you have one centrally located for use with all presses? If the latter, you may want to consider ensuring your color management device is calibrated and ready for measurement with the new press, so as not to skew any results. How are you tracking and confirming color accuracy press side? It may be beneficial to consider pressroom-friendly color management software to confirm color accuracy side-to-side and throughout the press run.