Servo power: servo driven presses, growing in popularity among many converters, can offer reduced waste, tighter registration, and faster changeover times

Label & Narrow Web, Jan-Feb, 2009 by Jack Kenny

Servo motors have been powering narrow web presses for about a decade. Prior to that they were too expensive to incorporate into the press, but it seems that overnight the prices came down and the technology went up. A servo press still costs more than a conventional mechanical press, but some industry observers predict further price reductions in the future.

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Credit for the introduction of servo drives in narrow web presses goes to the Europeans. (Three companies claim to have been the first to bring servo power to the industry.) By the early part of this decade, converters were looking seriously at the technology, and acquisitions were starting to build steam. Now, however, servo driven narrow web presses are part of the industry landscape. They represent a minority of printing machines, of course, but among new presses they hold a prominent position.

"The number of servo driven presses in use among label printers is currently small, but that number is growing," says Mac Rosenbaum, vice president of Aquaflex, a division of F.L. Smithe, Duncansville, PA, USA. "Currently 90 percent of all Aquaflex presses produced are servo driven. Label converters are beginning to take advantage of the added capabilities of a servo press--specifically, the ability to run film. This product diversity is helping them grow and prosper in an increasingly competitive environment."

"The level of penetration overall is still low, but it is making steady gains," says Jeff Feltz, director of product management for Mark Andy, St. Louis, MO, USA. "The advent of single servo implementations, like the 2200 Servo, has brought servo technology to a more affordable price point for a larger percentage of customers. Converters who have owned traditional mechanical line shaft presses are looking for equipment to reduce their costs and provide more capability. Customers looking to make significant gains with servo are looking at presses with dual servo driven axes, like the XP5000. Dual servo axis presses provide significantly greater benefits in changeover and waste reduction versus single axis servo implementations.

Steve Leiben of Matik North America is the sales manager for Omet presses, which are manufactured in Italy. He says, "The penetration of digital motion control systems (of which servo motors are one component) into the narrow web marketplace in general is probably about 25 to 30 percent of all converters (meaning that 25 to 30 percent of all converters have one or more servo presses). The number is much less if you consider the overall number of presses in the marketplace compared with the number of servo presses. This covers the range of servo press designs from simple hybrid presses to more sophisticated gearless-shaftless-sleeve presses."

Within the press manufacturing companies, the ratio of servo presses to non-servo presses sold has shifted significantly. Jakob Landberg, vice president of Nilpeter, Slagelse, Denmark, says that about 80 percent of all new presses manufactured and sold by the company now are driven by servos. David Baumann, product manager at Gallus, St. Gallen, Switzerland, reports that 60 percent of Gallus presses built today are hybrid (a combination of servo and gear) or fully servo.

Making the move

What is the attraction of servos? Are the conventional gear and shaft presses no longer doing the job? The answer to the latter is yes, they are, but a servo press can make a difference. Randy Duhaime is general manager of Dion Label Printing in Westfield, MA, USA, a company that recently took delivery of an MPS EFh410 16" eight color press manufactured by Multi Print Systems. Duhaime explains the company's interest in switching to servo.

"Servo is the only printing technology that we considered when researching a new flexographic press. This technology has progressed steadily and has proven to be a solid solution to the needs of growing label companies looking for the next level of quality and efficiency. We are always looking for means of improving efficiencies and building production capacity. We were confident that servo technology with full auto registration, full UV capability, faster changeover and higher press speeds will help us to reach these goals. In addition, we were interested in having the ability to print on thin unsupported films, including shrink film and pouching materials."

The Dion team has been operating the press only for a few months, but results are favorable, Duhaime says. "Press production is meeting our expectations, but we need more experience to fully benefit from the higher speed and quick changeover. The registration capabilities have allowed us to reduce waste and print many jobs in four-color process even when reversing out small type from all colors."

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Dion Label is known in the industry for its dedication to environmentally sound practices. The servo press, Duhaime reports, contributes to that effort. "The reduction of both setup and running waste is key to our sustainability efforts. The UV inks are contributing to efficiency due to the elimination of daily cleanup. Our press also has a "Lean Inking" feature that eliminates the need for a metering roll and large ink pans."