The Colorsat FCS (Formula Checkweigh System), featuring GSE ink manager software, manages all conventional inks — including water-based and UV flexo, offset, gravure and letterpress inks - cutting makeready time and reducing ink consumption by up to 30%.

Colorsat FCS’s automatic ink recipe calculations enable spot colours to be prepared, on target and in the exact quantity needed for the printing job, without needing to produce excess quantities. It provides the formula of the base colours in exact weights, then leads the operator through a controlled weighing process, using a precision Mettler-Toledo scale, to create the colour. Inks returned from flexo chamber doctor chambers on previous jobs can also be calculated into new recipes, keeping waste to a minimum.

The Colorsat FCS includes GSE Ink manager (GIm), a software package that provides the control and information needed to run a cost-efficient, responsive operation. A modular software, GIm includes several optional packages that automate and simplify ink-related processes.  With the optional GSE Traceability software package installed, Colorsat FCS brings full traceability of ink batches. In food and pharmaceutical markets, therefore, complying with strict Good Manufacturing Practice and British Retail Consortium safety standards becomes much easier.

The software packages provide a long-term solution for business improvement: customers eventually upgrading from a manual system to an automatic dispenser may continue to use the software database, without losing data. Both Colorsat FCS and its software are easy to for the customer to install and use, without the need for a GSE engineer to provide on-site installation or training.

Maarten Hummelen, marketing director, GSE, said, “In label and packaging production, controlling ink-related processes is vital for staying competitive, but automated dispensing systems enabling this have only been economical for larger-scale operations till now. The introduction of the new, compact Colorsat FCS manual dispenser with ink manager software puts the boutique enterprise on an equal footing, providing a long-term, viable system for reducing the cost to print while achieving consistent repeatable quality. The FCS and its software can also benefit larger businesses seeking to integrate peripheral operations – perhaps a stand-alone folding carton or envelope converting line – into the corporate management information system.”

GSE delivers robust, fast and smart dispensing equipment, software and services to minimise ink-related waste in the printing workflow. With more than 45 years’ experience in the industry, the company has an installed base of 1900 systems worldwide. The company is based in the Netherlands.