Conferences, product launches and trade shows offer numerous benefits to printing and packaging businesses. At Focus Label we attend a range of events throughout the year, not only in the UK and Europe, but around the world. Attending events requires an investment in time and money – and more so if you decide to exhibit, but in our experience the ROI is always positive. Here are the main reasons you should be taking part in more events this year!
According to the Health & Safety Executive, the printing industry has a relatively high incidence of machinery-related accidents. The majority of printing machine accidents occurs while preparing, or making ready, or cleaning the machinery, while freeing blockages also accounts for a significant percentage. However, by choosing the right machine for the job, training employees to safeguard themselves and taking basic safety precautions, common hazards can be avoided.
Jams and blockages are an occupational hazard of the label printing industry and, although you can take steps to avoid them happening on a regular basis, it is also helpful to know what to do in the event that they occur. Every printing press is different in terms of its setup, but jams and blockages can usually be attributed to one of a small number of common causes. None of them should disrupt the productivity of your printing works for long, but can easily do so if handled improperly.
Flexographic printing imprints a crystal-clear image onto a substrate from flexible print plates wrapped around rapidly rotating rollers, enabling the fast printing of long-run orders with no loss of quality. You’ll be familiar with the method if you’ve seen film of newspapers being churned out at incredible speed on long sheets of paper, but flexographic printing is also used to produce food packaging, gift wrap, wallpaper and self-adhesive labels. As modern technology has improved the ease with which the print plates can be created and customised, flexo has cemented its position as a leader in high-volume label and packaging printing.
When you’re deciding how to print an image onto a garment or textile product, you need a technique that is efficient, cost-effective and produces the standard of finish that your customers expect. Silk screen printing and heat transfer are two popular methods, but to select the most appropriate technique, it’s important to have a thorough understanding of both.
Unexpected noises from a label printing machine are an obvious cause for concern, especially if the machine does not report a fault code or any other indication of where the problem lies. However, certain noises are characteristic of specific issues and if you can recognise tell-tale clicking, grinding and screeching noises, you may have a better chance of diagnosing and rectifying such issues.
