Spotless box printer aims for top efficiency claim
If there were a contest for the "Cleanest Print Shop in the West", the winner would clearly be Royal Paper Box. But the Montebello, CA folding carton converter, which has been running offset print powder-free for more than a decade, is successfully striving to be equally recognized for its efficiency and quality work. "A clean shop is an obsession with us", says Jim Hodges, president/CEO of Royal Paper Box. "And so is our commitment to our customers. That's why we're constantly evolving to deliver the best work in the most proficient way. We have a long standing reputation for on-time delivery and consistent quality, order after order." Royal Paper Box, a 62-year-old second generation company, serves a blue-ribbon list of clients spanning industries as diverse as pharmaceuticals, biotech, medical instruments, cosmetics, personal care, consumer electronics, specialty foods, and stationery. The company has been on the leading edge of technology since the mid-80s when it installed the first of two 50-in. sheetfed offset presses. "In those days", Hodges says, "we printed long runs and inventoried products for our customers, delivering it when they asked for more."
PDQ with JIT
Eventually, however, customers looked to reduce the risk and costs associated with bloated or outdated inventories and did not want as many boxes per order. In the mid-90s, Royal installed its first 40-in. press to handle these shorter runs and a second 40-in. unit was added in 2000. These installations prepared Royal for the increasing demand for JIT work. "We didn't want to lose our edge", says Hodges, "we decided to reposition ourselves. We went through our job statistics and found that nearly half the jobs would be most efficiently run on an oversized 29-in. press. We had been buying six-color presses like most printers, yet nearly 90 percent of our work was four colors or less." So Royal considered staffing, investment and consumable costs and determined a 23.5 x 29-in. press would be optimum. "After all, if it will run on a 29, why print on a 40?" asks Hodges, who felt that presses designed for short-run, quick turnarounds would "fit the company like a glove."
After an exhaustive evaluation, Royal determined that a large-format CTP system could feed the existing larger presses and fuel the pressroom's demand for more plates and shorter runs. Royal chose a Trendsetter VLF platesetter from Creo (Bedford, MA), which processes P970 CTP plates up to 45 x 57 in. from Agfa (Ridgefield Park, NJ). Royal uses Artwork Systems' (Bristol, PA) Best XXL software for job creation and digital workflow.
Competitive leader
When it came to picking the press supplier, Hodges chose Heidelberg (Kennesaw, GA). "We really felt that Heidelberg's Speedmaster CD 74 was ahead of all the competition," Hodges says. "We were able to visit packaging companies that use the press in Europe and the United States. It was clear that the machine was very well developed and performing very well. These indicators led us to purchase two CD 74s." The twin four-color presses were installed in January 2003. In keeping with the shop's goal to remain completely powder-free, Heidelberg equipped both presses with DryStar I/R and hot air drying systems and included another unusual feature: double-length delivery extensions. The extra extension offers Royal Paper Box the additional flexibility to adapt to other drying concepts in the future. The shop, for example, could adopt UVcuring capabilities if it chose.
Each Speedmaster CD 74 also handles difficult substrates. Typically, when a job moves from a larger press to a 29-in., the layout favors the grain running around the cylinder. This short-grain layout can cause problems if the press is not correctly designed. The CD 74 is reportedly not affected by which direction that board grain is being run. Primary material suppliers are Potlatch Corp. (Bloomington, MN) for paperboard and Toyo Ink America (Lincolnshire, IL) for inks.
2 presses, 3 staff
With efficiency the goal, Royal Paper Box wanted to run both machines with a total crew of three— essentially 1.5 operators/press. "To do this, we needed not only an easy connection between the two, but also electronic quality control support", said Steve Perez, Royal plant engineer. To make the operator's job easier, both machines are elevated and a catwalk unites them on the same level.
On this bridge, Heidelberg's Prinect ImageControl system provides closed-loop QC for both presses. This spectrophotometry-based system can take prepress data directly into its memory, providing a "virtual proof" for color matching. Both CP 2000 press control consoles are tied to electronic prepress as well, which provides ink key settings for rapid makeready. While enhancing efficiency, Royal also wanted to continue its commitment to cleanliness and completely eliminate spray powder in daily operation. "We view powder as an unnecessary evil", says Hodges. "It's not only bad for the press and the environment, but it lowers the rub resistance of the box and imparts a gritty, sandpaper-like feel to the job." So it was imperative that Heidelberg's technical team provide highly professional installation. To reduce the air movement and heat emission of the presses, Royal chose to install a special combination system which cools the inking and dampening sections while removing excess heat from the central-air supply.
The pay-off
Has the attention to detail paid off? Hodges thinks so. "Pharmaceutical companies spend millions to put a drug through research and development, and when the Food and Drug Administration finally gives the go ahead for a new drug, the manufacturer wants to launch the initial run of product within hours", he says. "Our investment in new prepress and press technology lets us meet this challenge without putting the staff, or the equipment, through anything out of the ordinary. Meeting these challenges is just what we do. Competitively, we're right where we need to be."