Today’s interview is with VP of Manufacturing for Pamarco’s offset
division, Carmon Madison.
He’s going to give us his insight into the number one issue
facing offset printers today.
Katie Graham: Carmon, what can you tell me about that issue?
Carmon Madison: The number one issue for the press-room, whether it be web or
sheet-fed, is the net pressure. Setting those net pressures too tight.
Katie Graham: Can you tell me a little bit more about what that means? How can
someone tell if they have this problem? What are some indications about net settings?
Carmon Madison: Generally, the number one indicator that you tend to see is burn-up
rollers. We see that a lot on water-forms, water-meters, and ink forms. That would
generally tell you right away that those rollers are not set right. Other indicators are the
press running too hot, misting ink, or poor roller life. Those would be a few, just off the
top of my head. An indicator that there’s a problem inside the unit itself, particularly
internal workings of some of the internal rollers themselves is ink water balance issues,
where the pressman is chasing the ink and water balance and he doesn’t know why.
That’s a strong indicator, which drives up his make-ready, as well.
Katie Graham: So what are some solutions? Are there any ways a printer could prevent
this or be on the lookout for troubleshooting?
Carmon Madison: It goes back to what I said earlier, burn-up rollers are something that
you should be watching for. If you have an unexpected reduction in roller life, then you
should be watching out for it, too. If your pressman is chasing his ink or his water, and it’s
always moving around on him, the first thing you need to do is check that the net
pressure is set properly. When you do that, and the net pressures are properly set, you
will reduce your heat, ink consumption, and solution consumption. In addition to that, you
will extend the life of your roller. Those are some given things that will happen if you set
them right.
Katie Graham: How do you know what the correct setting actually is? Is that something
that you can get from your press manufacturer? Or from one of your suppliers? Where
do you find it?
Carmon Madison: We suggest that you maintain the OEM’s specifications. We prefer
that you set to the lighter side of the OEM’s specification. To be specific, if you are using
4 millimeters as an example setting between two rollers they may provide, and you set to
the fat side of the four millimeter, we want you to set it to the light side of the four
millimeter. You’re not wanting the stripe setting to be greater than four millimeters, if
anything you want it to be four millimeters or else. That alone will extend the life of your
rollers.
Katie Graham: As far as solutions go, that is the end-all of solutions?
Carmon Madison: That is the solution. I mean, you could always have mechanical
problems with your press. But we are a rolling manufacturer, we can’t tell you any issues
with the mechanics or gears or things like that. What we can tell you is that a roller isn’t
set right and that you need to set it to the lighter side of the OEM’s specifications.
Katie Graham: Thank you for your time, Carmon. Hopefully this helps offset printers in
their search for methods to extend the life of their anilox roll.
