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Polyprint Plastics is a UK company actively
raising the standards of 4-colour process printing, and doing very well
from it. The company is based in Nottingham and supplies retail and other
display print throughout the UK and into mainland Europe.
 Polyprint
works with paper, board and plastic, producing promotional and other
point-of-sale graphics for many well known stores, and much of it has to
be of the highest possible quality. The company started moving into
process printing seven years ago. We spoke recently to Glyn Garner,
Managing Director, who explained that much of their success is due to
continued
investment in its printing lines and pre-press
equipment, to stringent quality control, and to great emphasis on meeting
delivery times. Printing equipment at Polyprint ranges from
Svecia¹s to Serifast machines and rotary Sakurai¹s, one of which was
installed before Christmas, with another going in in May. All are fitted
with UV drying, to satisfy 90% of Polyprint¹s work. Sakurai fans will
know that the SC102A press handles almost anything in board or plastic
from 0.1 up to 3.0mm, which meets the need for both speed and versatility.
The production director at Polyprint is Nick
Herrick, the man behind much of the day-to-day drive to quality and the
now-routine use of 80+ screen line rulings. Nick is almost fanatical about
process printing, and insists that total care at the pre-press stage is
essential for good results. The Polyprint set-up lets them handle all
pre-press work inside, which gives them the ability to respond immediately
to any urgent job, and to experiment with screen angles and other
variables. Investment
on the pre-press side has included the acquisition of a Grunig G11, and a
G12, both automatic screen cleaning machines, and a Grunig G420 coater,
with a centre pillar arrangement. This arrangement on the G420 ensures a
more equal spread of pressure during coating, while the coating trough¹s
dual edge blade and edge cleaning device gives more controllable,
streak-free coating. Normal production results in Rz values equal to those
possible with 18 micron capillary film.
The G11 and G12 are worked hard too, completely
eliminating the backlog of screens awaiting cleaning and reclamation, or
developing. They play a large part in ensuring that stencil preparation
starts from a consistently high standard of clean mesh. Nick Herrick has
also pointed to training as a key factor in a successful 4-colour
business, and it is something with which the ink supplier can always help.
It is important for all involved to understand the means as well as the
objectives in process work, at all stages of production, so it gets great
emphasis.
Coates Screen support has been important too, in the
integration and servicing of equipment, and in provision of the most
suitable inks. Opus FLX UV process set is used for much work, particularly
on plastics, while Second Symphony is widely used for paper and board.
Both inks satisfy Polyprint¹s demands and ensure their customers get what
they want, and when they want it.
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