A Total Pressroom Cleaning Program

A DAETWYLER/RENZMANN SUCCESS STORY.

THE CLIENT:

Dutch packaging printer Schut Flexible Packaging is one of the oldest packaging manufacturers in the Netherlands, and owns two gravure presses, one flexo press, and additional equipment for foil lamination, wax application, and roll finishing.

The company’s most frequently printed items include cigarette packs, spice and butter wrappers, candy wrappers, stand-up pouches, and foil bags.

THE NEED:

To keep up with changing ATEX regulations and MAC limits, Schut needed to upgrade their wash room and cleaning program. The solution could not interfere with the 24/7 production of the company’s presses and other equipment and needed to be able to withstand the extreme conditions of non-stop operation without adding significant expense to the company.

THE ANSWER:

A Complete Renzmann Wash Room Remodel The new cleaning program for Schut includes three different Renzmann units, each of which serves a different purpose and delivers a different advantage to the company.
The first was a Renzmann washing machine for gravure cylinders. The machine can clean two cylinders at once and can remove even partially dry residues from the tiniest fine-detail components of the cylinder, leaving them clean as new. The Renzmann machine is also incredibly efficient, with a total wash cycle taking only 10 minutes, which allowed Schut to rotate cylinders quickly, minimizing (and in some cases eliminating) downtime between jobs.

CLEAN PRESSROOM. CLEAN PARTS. CLEARLY BETTER PERFORMANCE AND PROFITABILITY.

A special feature of the machine allows it to process up to five elastomer flexo sleeves, which are also used widely in Shut’s operations.

The second component Schut integrated into their cleaning program was a parts washing machine from Renzmann for cleaning ink troughs, hoses, containers, doctor blade holders, and other similar small items.

Parts are placed into a removable washing basket, and then pushed into a front-loaded machine with a closed washing chamber and separate cleaning solution tank.

A removable strainer ensures that any loose debris or parts cannot damage or disable the machine or components, and the automatic solvent control system minimizes solvent vapors and regulates solvent concentration. 5 cycles — wash, drain, rinse, secondary drain, and air extraction — can each be selected individually based on the needs of the parts to be washed.

Because both the parts and cylinder/sleeve washing machines use solvents in Schut’s operation, the company also decided to implement a Renzmann ROTOmaX solvent distillation unit.

Once solvent is used, it is stored in a resealable, safe tank. When the volume of solvent reaches 1000 liters, the automated distillation process begins.

High temperature boiling and evaporation separates contaminants from clean, reusable solvent and separates the two into two different containers.

Schut can even select the viscosity of the residue depending on storage and disposal needs.

The entire process takes about 11 hours from start to finish and has brought solvent waste down to only 60 liters out of every 1000 liters processed – saving money on disposal as well as the purchase of new/additional solvent.

This overhaul meets the latest strict ATEX regulations, and offers:

CONCLUSION:

Thanks to Renzmann, the Schut Flexible Packaging company has been able to implement a complete end-to-end solution for in-house cleaning and maintenance of its press equipment.

This not only has extended the life of the presses themselves, but in several cases, has saved the company actual production costs associated with solvents and the expenses related to loss of productivity from press changes or insufficiently cleaned components that impact print quality.