Opal Print moves to LED UV

Print Solutions

Bath based Opal Print has invested in LED UV curing from Air Motion Systems. The mercury free UV system is to be retrofitted to its Heidelberg CD74 5LX B2 Speedmaster in a move that managing director Keith Lunt considers a significant development for the family firm that celebrates its 30th anniversary next year.

‘We had been weighing up our next major investment for more than a year, aware that the marketplace was moving on, and there are new options for substrates and finishes that we were keen to explore. Because our business model is based on low volumes, but high value, our press only has 80 million impressions on the clock and we have it working like a dream, so it didn’t make sense to replace it,’ he explained. ‘By fitting AMS LED UV curing we are opening up new opportunities that are directly relevant to our specialist offering – the performance on uncoated papers and ability to print non-absorbent substrates, the quality of the colour reproduction and precision of the dot, the tactile nature of the finishes – these were the primary drivers in our decision. Factors like the environmental credentials of LED, better energy economy and elimination of spray powder are all bonuses.’

In researching the new generation UV systems for litho presses, Opal looked at the stepping stone ‘high reactive’ technologies before settling on the blue light LED solution, with AMS the favourite.

AMS diodes have a minimum life of 20,000 printing hours, which equates to more than eight years for a typical commercial printing house.

Keith Lunt, Opal Print managing director, with Claus Nielsen of AMS UK.