Paper sets the pace

 
Progress Sappi has developed a paper that saves time, reduces costs and increases efficiency.  
The deadline pressure in today's printing industry is higher than ever. In recent years, the demand for print products that can be delivered immediately has risen by 25 percent. With a paper that dries quickly, processes could be accelerated, saving time and costs. A possible solution for the printing industry to work more efficiently. Sappi Fine Paper Europe has recently started producing a new paper that offers printers real advantages. Sappi presented the wonder paper at a press conference at the Print Media Academy in Heidelberg. Sappi is one of the world's leading producers of high-quality papers. Sappi is the world's number one producer of coated fine papers. 4.2 million tons of high-quality coated fine papers leave the paper mills every year. They are used for a wide range of sophisticated print products such as brochures, magazines, annual reports and wine labels. No wonder the paper producer is constantly working on the further development of its products. Sappi also produces uncoated graphic and business papers as well as uncoated specialty papers.
Speed saves time and costsEvery year, a large number of new papers are launched, but there have been no significant innovations in recent years, argue those responsible at Sappi. They therefore took their time to develop their new product, which is a genuine innovation, and carried out intensive research in the industry to find out what printers expect from a new coated paper. Before Sappi went public, the new development was thoroughly tested. Market studies and Sappi's own investigations showed that printers primarily want shorter throughput times. However, this requires a reduction in the drying time of the printing inks and better abrasion resistance. Sappi then invested five million euros in the development of Tempo Silk. The result is a wood-free, coated, silk-matt format paper that is available in grammages of 100 to 300 grams per square meter. Tempo Silk is characterized by a new coating texture that provides a super-smooth, silk-matt surface and leads to excellent printing results. The special features of the new development are faster ink absorption and faster drying.
While you need to allow at least half an hour for the ink to dry when using conventional coated paper, Tempo takes 15 minutes. The reverse side can therefore be printed almost immediately after the front side. This reduces waiting times on the press. In most cases, further processing with creasing, folding and cutting can be started after just half an hour. Another advantage is powder consumption. As the ink dries so quickly when printing on Tempo, powder consumption is reduced by 50 to 100 percent, meaning that fewer washing intervals are required during printing. Previously, silk matt papers also had to be coated, but this is also no longer necessary with Tempo. Tempo behaves like glossy coated paper in terms of the rub resistance of the printing ink. In practice, this means that, as a rule, no varnish needs to be used to prevent rubbing. This is associated with material cost savings as a further positive consequence.
Practical test passedTempo has already been subjected to a practical test in 60 European printing companies, with positive results so far. "I see the biggest advantages in reducing the amount of powder," says Erwin Prehn, Managing Director of the German printing company MHD Druck und Service GmbH, who was one of the testers. "We all know that with longer, longer runs, the powder is particularly troublesome for us during back printing, which means we often have washing intervals. I see them at least halved here." Prehn is also satisfied with the quality. "We can print eighty screens without any problems and the image reproduction is excellent." Speed is also an advantage for small print jobs. "We have a small 52 press here, on which we print a very large number of jobs every day on all kinds of paper types, especially on semi-gloss paper," explains Raf Broeckx from Baillien & Maris in Belgium. He has found that the new paper makes it possible to work much faster and delivery times are shorter as a result.
Tempo offers a number of advantages that pay off for a printing company over the entire order. Print capacity could be increased by around 20 to 25 percent using the new development. At the Sappi press event at the Print Media Academy in Heidelberg, much was said about the advantages of Tempo, but almost nothing was said about the price. As is well known, those who offer more can also demand more. It can therefore be assumed that Tempo will probably not be one of the cheaper paper products. For many printers, this is a reason to switch to day-to-day business and continue to work with less Tempo. The next few months will therefore show how innovative the industry really is and whether Tempo can actually convince printers.
Sabine Flaxman
The speed advantages:- Twice as fast ink drying, fast throughput times.
- Reduction in waiting times, higher capacity utilization.
- Greater flexibility in machine assignment.
- Reduction of powder consumption by 50 to 100 percent.
- Reduction in washing intervals, eliminating costly cleaning work.
- Usually no protective lacquer and no sealing required.
- Savings in material, time and energy.