On the twelve month anniversary of installing its second Sakurai MS80-SD servo-driven cylinder press, Fascia Graphics has reported that its carbon footprint has been reduced for the second year running.
Fascia Graphics has invested nearly £1million in the two machines, and worked closely with Natgraph, the supplier. The installation has been so successful that Fascia Graphics has been invited by FESPA UK (an industry trade association) to present at the ‘Screen Printing Now’ conference in London this September.
Both Sakurai’s were built with Natgraph High Temperature, Air Force UV/IR combination dryers, which are the latest technology for cylinder screen printing lines. The machines were purpose designed and built with anti-scratch substrate paths, ensuring delivery of the substrate to ensure flawless print detail – further reducing Fascia’s material consumption and waste.
The two printing lines are also designed with bespoke heat exchange units which remove the heat from the waste air and use this to heat up the fresh air being pumped in. This reduces the amount of energy the dryer uses as the fresh air coming in has been heated by recycling the heat from the waste air.
The Sakurai’s have also benefited from the reduction of dust and debris in the atmosphere as they have been installed within positive pressure clean rooms. Temperature and humidity are closely controlled, reducing static charge on the press and substrate. This consequently reduces downtime during production, resulting in reduced waste of energy, materials and time.
Michael Hole, systems improvement manager at Fascia Graphics, said: “Our investment in the Sakurai’s has really paid off, and put further distance between Fascia and our competitors with regards to performance, product quality and energy efficiencies. Cutting carbon emissions at the same time as providing so many service and production improvements to our customers is an industry first, and one that we are very proud of.” Michael continued: “To also be invited by FESPA UK to present how and why our installation has been a success and highlight why it is an example of efficient automatic screen printing, signifies how this has been a real achievement for Fascia and the industry.”
The ultra-high precision rotary and stop motion cylinder press also includes a highly accurate print elongation correction system. Along with optical registration and multi-sensor alignment, the quality of the finished product ensures Fascia stay ahead of the pack.
Fascia presently serves in excess of 1000 customers both domestically and globally.
