Flexo Wash equips Monteiro, Ribas with ATEX-compliant washroom

Monteiro, Ribas began life back in 1937 in the leather industry and grew to become one of Portugal’s largest suppliers of footwear. It was not until the 1960s that the business group, which now includes separate units for coated fabric, rubber and energy production, moved into print for packaging. Now in its third generation of family ownership and management, Monteiro, Ribas Embalagens Flexiveis SA, is a substantial organisation that employs 160 people on the outskirts of Porto, on Portugal’s Atlantic coast.

Roberto Ribas Monteiro, who joined the family company in 2010, and is charged with implementing a plan for continuous improvement, explained the background to the recent investments in new technology, saying: ‘We are historically a gravure house, with presses ranging from six to 10 colors, and web widths from 860mm to 1,360mm. In 2011, we embarked on an investment program that led to us installing another gravure press and, as a first for us, a new CI flexo press in 2013.’

The gravure machine is an 8-color Windmöller & Hölscher press with an in-line laminating facility, and is capable of handling substrates from 500mm to 1,420mm at speeds up to 1,968 ft/min (600m/min). 

The 1,360mm Uteco Cristal CI flexo line is also interesting in that Monteiro, Ribas specified a rotogravure unit to be included at the end of the press to allow opaque white or varnish to be applied on either side of the web.

‘The installation of our first flexo press came about because customers look to purchase gravure and flexo printed products from the same supplier. As our customers work with smaller quantities, the lower price of flexo plates compared with gravure cylinders, combined with the ability to supply the same print quality, made flexo very attractive,’ said Roberto Ribas Monteiro.

The theory has certainly worked in practice, with leading names such as Mars, Kraft Foods, United Biscuits and Aoste in the portfolio, and according to Roberto Ribas Monteiro, the company has enjoyed a high degree of continuity from global brands that have remained loyal through many years of mergers and acquisitions. The diversity of production options at the Porto plant allows the company to service both short and long run demand. ‘We’ll print as few as 1,000 linear meters, if that’s what a customer needs, but more typically 10-12,000 is our average, and this has increased slightly over the past 12 months. We still handle jobs that run into millions of metres, but not so many these days.’

Aware of the potential problem that the two new high-speed presses could pose, the company visited drupa in 2012 to look at ways of improving overall production efficiency, and one area that attracted attention was the washing of machine parts. 

The company was already using an older machine for washing smaller parts, but knew that it needed to invest in new technology to keep pace with the incoming presses, and with BRC/IOP and ISO 9001 and 22000 standards to maintain, it investigated the options that met with the internationally accepted ATEX regulations.

Roberto Ribas Monteiro says: ‘There was little to choose between the main competitors, but our decision was swayed by the functional simplicity of the Flexo Wash equipment, and the fact that it complied fully with ATEX regulations. 

‘As a manufacturer, it was also far more flexible in its approach to our requirements, and had a shorter delivery time, which was important as our new Windmöller & Hölscher was already in production.’

The first part of the investment with Flexo Wash was a complete ATEX-compliant washroom, consisting of an PK 350 FL model washing machine coupled with a DI 2400 distiller.  Designed for front-loading with trolleys, the new equipment washes the ink trays, buckets and other press parts cleaner and faster, and requires significantly less effort from the operator.  

By removing the need to lift heavy items, the Flexo Wash system with trolleys also reduces the potential for damaging the parts during loading and unloading. With all the solvent contained within the machine, there is less contamination, and the Flexo Wash unit is fitted with a sensor that measures solvent concentration and allows the machine to be opened only when it has reached a pre-defined safe level.

With the cost of substrates still a major factor in print prices, Monteiro, Ribas knows that it has to source well and keep waste levels to a minimum. ‘There is no doubt that cleaner parts make presses more productive, and with turnarounds continuing to shorten, we cannot afford to waste time and substrate resolving streaks and other defects caused by dirty parts.  Considering how much we have invested in the two new presses, and the value of the work we process, the Flexo Wash technology has been good value and shown a fast return on investment.’

Claiming a one-third reduction in time per wash cycle, and rarely the need for a second wash, Roberto Ribas Monteiro estimates he has achieved a 50 percent improvement in efficiency overall, and also made savings in solvent consumption.

With the installation of the new Uteco flexo line, Monteiro, Ribas looked again at washing equipment for plates and anilox rolls. Here, the competition was more intense, but with standardization in mind and the recommendation of the press manufacturer, which uses Flexo Wash in its own plant, the company elected to add more equipment from Denmark, this time an FW 2000 M anilox roll cleaner, and a PW 92 WRO plate washer. With no previous experience of handling flexo technology, nor understanding of its unique requirements, the company appreciated the familiarity and safety features of the Flexo Wash equipment, and especially the value of its local support.

Today, Monteiro, Ribas Embalagens Flexiveis enjoys sales that will approach 30 million EUR (38 million USD) in 2014, of which 75 percent is exported to other EU countries. The company is keen to grow its export business with newfound improvements in efficiency, coupled with its renowned quality.