The Perfect Proofer from Print Proof Solutions, and the Colorsat Match system from GSE Dispensing, were installed in late 2012 and the company found learning the technology was fast and easy.

“We had been mixing colours on the press which cuts into available press time and can waste substrates,” said Knut Nilsson, Nordvalls’ colour department manager. “We had been looking for a solution and our ink supplier suggested we have a look at the combination of a proofer and dispensing system.”

A family-run company established in 1907, Nordvalls is a leading labels supplier and operates three modern facilities. The main plant, Nordvalls Print (where the Perfect Proofer and Colorsat Match system are installed), comprises an 8,000m² building with 15 production lines offering flexo, UV flexo, offset, screen, letterpress and digital printing. Products printed include labels for food and beverages, wood, wood pulp and paper industry applications, chemical and technical labels, and general industrial labels.

A few kilometres away, Nordvalls Pharma offers a specialist service printing self-adhesive labels, multi-labels (with up to 32 pages), inserts and patient information leaflets (PILs) for the pharmaceutical industry. Nordvalls in Kungälv (north of Gothenburg) produces self-adhesive labels, tickets and tags, seals and in-mould labels.

Reducing the risk

The addition of the Colorsat Match and Perfect Proofer has meant that Nordvalls can now take colour mixing off the press and test the colour formulations on a table-top proofer. This significantly reduces time spent mixing on the press, which can take up to 25 minutes for a four-colour job and longer for the up to nine colour work that Nordvalls produces on its new MPS presses.

GSE Dispensing’s Colorsat Match enables fast, clean and waste-free recipe production as it dispenses the exact amount of water-based or UV-curable inks needed. The system has been proven to eliminate waste and improve yields by up to 30 per cent. It can prepare ink batches of 1 kg (2 lbs) to 5 kg (11 lbs), with a typical 5 kg recipe of four colors dispensed in less than four minutes.

In addition, the dispenser’s user-friendly Ink Management Software (IMS) provides precise formulations. When Nordvalls receives a colour specification from the customer, a small batch of ink is mixed in the Colorsat Match system and checked with a spectrometer. If necessary, adjustments are made and when the correct colour is achieved it can be tested on the Perfect Proofer.

The Perfect Proofer is a fully gear-driven replica of a flexo printing unit and uses the same anilox roll type and cell count, polymer plate, tape and drying system as the full job and the same substrates can be used. Nip distances can be calibrated in increments of microns so half tones will be printed on the proofer at the same dot gain as will be experienced on press, achieving identical results.

Apart from the benefits of reducing press make-ready time and substrate wastage, it is possible for proofs from the Perfect Proofer to be signed off by the customer without them needing to be on site when the job goes to press, which significantly quickens the process.

“We are able to get much closer to the colour sample than before and we can produce the samples faster, so there are time savings for the customer, too,” Nilsson explains. “These systems have been a cost-effective combination. It has cut the time spent on the press to a few minutes per colour and reduced the amounts of ink and substrate that were wasted.”