Bhavesh Fushi, managing director of Impress Labels said: "We had opted for four units of a LED system on our current press because it offers us savings in electric consumption. In addition, the change-over time is less; there is low heat emission, and longer life of lamps.

"This gives us the immense advantage over a UV press as we do not need chilled drums for running shrink films."

Impress Labels manufactures a wide range of labels. These include: inkjet and laser printable label sheets, barcode labels (printed and blank), blank label, paper label, filmic label, printed label, speciality label, carbostick label, decals and vinyl label, self laminating label, tamper-evident/tamper-proof label, thermal ribbons, thermal printers and barcode scanners. In addition to the RK flexo eight-colour press, Impress Labels also has a six-colour RK press with multi UV and IR systems. Additionally, Impress has a labelstock unit, which is capable of manufacturing 23-inch stock.

When PrintWeek asked Fushi what prompted the investment, he said, "We were contemplating the purchase of a UV press. At that time, we studied the investment cost per station of a standard UV unit versus the cost of a LED UV. And we were surprised to see the benefits."

When asked to elaborate, he said, "The cost for both the new units is the same. But the electricity consumption of the LED is 80% less. The mileage as compared to UV inks is higher."

Prior to the Srushti investment, the 30-strong team produced jobs deploying water-based inks. Fushi said, "But cleaning the Anilox daily was really a time consuming process."

Fushi and his advisors checked a similar kit being installed at the other printer and found the report "satisfactory". The key features that proved to be decisive in favour of the machine were: cost saving, no chilled roll required plus time saving in the cleaning of the anilox rollers.

For Fushi, the USP was the entire process of cleaning the anilox every day is eliminated. "Now, that the printing is done with 1,200 to 1,400 LPI, this gives us much better image sharpness along with inks saving."

When PrintWeek enquired about the savings accrued, Fushi said, "It was fitted just a few days ago. We are yet to work out the same. However, the savings seems huge. And it is very easy to use and operator-friendly."

Sanjay Desousa, general manager – sales and marketing, Srusthi Enterprises said, "UV LED is an alternative curing technique against mercury lamp curing, which is primarily used to cure UV inks in the narrow web industry. It is used in industrial applications such as visible lighting, water purification and wood coatings curing. Today, UV LED, which is an abbreviation for ultraviolet light emitting diode, is benefiting print. It offers significant advantages over mercury lamping."