QuadTech’s new system promises perfect packaging print

There is no room for compromise in today’s packaging market. Printed output must be of the highest quality across and throughout the roll, or converters will bear the costs of reworks or potentially even lose business. Web inspection has, therefore, become a vitally important aspect of their operation, helping to identify defects during the print run, and also helping with aspects of colour management. Here an old adage rings true: if something is worth doing, then it’s worth doing properly.

12 Jul 2017 | By Dibyajyoti Sarma

QuadTech’s view, therefore, is that 100% inspection – that is, inspection of the whole substrate width, constantly, throughout the production run at a customizable resolution – is a must.

The company introduced its latest inspection system for packaging and converting printers at Drupa 2016, building it upon its ICON integrated platform. This was not simply an incremental upgrade to existing technology however. QuadTech says it has “reimagined” web inspection and developed what it says is a better process for the detection and disposition of defects.

“The result,” said Stephan Doppelhammer, QuadTech market manager for Packaging, “is a very powerful, very intuitive tool. We think printers will immediately understand the efficiencies to be gained, and will be excited about the value they can add to their operations.”

There are a number of innovative new features that will prove hugely beneficial to converters, among them the Golden Template: a fixed reference image that is captured at the beginning of every print run, and to which every subsequent printed copy is compared. The system tolerates web wander and stretch, detecting slow-growing defects such as register, streaking or colour changes for the full print run.

QuadTech’s new scalable inspection system is based upon a 64-bit software architecture, allowing a wider array of advanced algorithms to analyse the printed substrate, helping to detect defect types such as ink spots, register/colour variation, content issues, and streaks. These unique algorithms automatically adapt the system to changing press conditions, start-ups/restarts, splices and normal running speeds included.

The inspection system uniquely features the flexibility to fully customise the resolution at which the web is viewed, providing 100% image acquisition and complete inspection down to the finest detail.

A key element in the design of inspection system has been giving users the capability to clearly view defects when they are discovered. Consequently, the product includes a new high definition wide screen user interface, which supports larger image sizes for defect analysis, while temperature-controlled LED lighting gives printers the lowest level of granularity to identify defects and prevent costly waste when viewing the substrate. The stability of this light output results in clean, high-quality inspection images. Custom lighting designs are available for applications such as standard, reflective, trans-missive, and UV.

QuadTech inspection system has an intuitive user interface that provides press operators with powerful new capabilities, such as masks and multiple defect sensitivities, and a live, colour-coded roll map allows operators to quickly identify different types of defects, and make fast decisions about the severity of a defect and how to deal with it.

For printers and converters, it is all about delivering top quality packaging with zero defects to the end user, and QuadTech’s new Inspection System, especially when combined with its data central and waste management technology, will give them the competitive advantage they seek.
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