Adelaide printer Finsbury Green has upgraded its multi-colour Heidelberg presses using PrintFlow closed-loop colour control, Techkon colour measuring and Mellow Colour PrintSpec reporting – all implemented by Colour Graphic Services.
Finsbury Green was established in 1973 by the late Ernie Orel, and his sons Mark and Peter have earned the business a reputation as one of Australia’s most respected and environmentally pro-active medium-to-large scale printers. The company is a textbook example of environmental management in the printing industry. Ninety-seven percent of all inks and varnishes used are vegetable-based. Isopropyl alcohol has all but been eliminated from production; electricity is astutely managed using advanced voltage optimisation and Power Factor Correction, with zero waste sent to landfill.
The project to implement closed-loop colour control involved Finsbury Green’s two B1 presses – a Heidelberg CD 102 six colour and CD 102 five colour, purchased in the early 2000s. According to Robbie D’Angelo, national manufacturing manager, Colour Graphics Services came up with the best solution:
“Around the time of the GFC, we started looking at our presses and whether we should upgrade, but the high capex and uncertainty of the times made us ask, ‘What can we do with or existing presses?’ It was around this time that we made contact with Colour Graphics Services and David Crowther.”
The project began with both Finsbury Green’s Adelaide and Melbourne production sites achieving Mellow Colour ISO 12647-2 Proficient Printer certification, reducing waste and getting the best ISO standard colour out of existing presses.
"As the six-monthly ISO audits took place, measurable continuous improvement took place across prepress, proofing, plate making and on presses,” says David Crowther.
“Viewing conditions were standardized to ISO 3664 and ISO 12647-2 reporting using Mellow Colour’s PrintSpec application ensured that procedures, colour measurement, training and records were gathered and collated.”
While at drupa 2016, director Mark Orel visited the stand of PrintFlow, a Bratislava, Slovak Republic company with a good record of modernizing printing presses using closed-loop colour control and CIP3 based ink pre-setting. Orel saw the potential to breathe new life into his existing fleet, rather than spending millions on new presses.
With Crowther’s Colour Graphic Services as the local dealer, a trial of Printflow on the CD 102-6c commenced. “When the trial period ended, Finsbury Green’s make-ready times were cut by half and colour consistency improved for all short, medium and long run jobs,” says Crowther. “Being very happy with the results, Finsbury Green ordered two Printflow systems, with the second one completed on the CD 102-5c by early 2018. The overall project has delivered tangible benefits to the business and we have also implemented the latest ISO 12647-2:2013 colour standard.”
The installation includes two Techkon SpectroDrive scanning press-side spectrophotometers for total accuracy in measuring colour bars, Mellow Colour Flatline modules for PrintSpec to enable the press-side data generated by the Techkon SpectroDrives to be input to PrintSpec for ISO 12647-2:2013 reporting and the Printflow DC software interfaces for each press.
Finsbury Green’s print supervisor, David Schoemaker says: “The whole Printflow - PrintSpec-Techkon upgrading has revolutionized the way we do colour control. Before, there were always variables as we measured production sheets with hand-held spectrophotometers and densitometers. Today, we have added a layer of automation that basically renders colour issues a thing of the past.”
D’Angelo says: “Now we are able to be more responsive, accept even shorter runs because of less make-ready time, reduce waste even further and guarantee our customers get predictable, consistent colour. The remarkable thing is, we have achieved all this – with David’s guidance of course – on our existing presses with our legacy workflow – Prinergy 8.1 and with minimal disruption to the running of the business.”