GENERAL REMARKS REGARDING THE PERFECT SCREEN
In many cases the screen (printing form) is not perceived as a decisive link in the chain of the screen printing procedure, even though it is obvious that a perfect screen offers quite a number of advantages. One might even say that a perfectly prepared screen is indispensable for a company to have the edge over their competition. Just like the wheels for a car, the screen is the absolutely essential element for a perfect printing process.
Nowadays – just as in the offset printing business - a screen must not only be reproducible in record time, but also at the cheapest possible price and in optimal quality. Meeting these requirements will result in a multitude of benefits for the printing shop, such as:
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Improved printing quality
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Lower costs
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Short delivery times – shorter response times
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Standardized printing results
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Less printing failures
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Reduced retouching expenditure
Due to the fact that the screen printing technology is used in countless market segments, the screens have to meet a wide variety of different requirements. Today every imaginable size can be found, from the smallest format (10 x 10 cm) up to the maximum size of 4 x 11 m. The important thing is thus to use the most appropriate solution for a particular application. Possible criteria to be considered are:
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Color system (solvents, UV, water-based, Plastisol, 2-component, special color)
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Print substrate
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Frame sizes
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Quantity of screens
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Available space
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Workflow - Handling
It is absolutely essential for you to know your costs per screen. The only way to find out where what kind of costs are generated and where the need for action is most imminent, is to carry out an extensive cost evaluation covering the entire screen manufacturing process. And don’t forget the many and not insubstantial costs that are usually hidden and relatively hard to ascertain (such as environmental costs, printing rejects, machine downtimes, high fluctuations, unsatisfactory image, etc.). Please contact your supplier and ask him to let you have the respective cost calculation models (ROI-Tools - Return on Investment resources for investment goods).
PRINTING FRAMES
Quite often thriftiness exercises too much influence when selecting the appropriate frame, even though it is common knowledge that the correct dimensioning of the frame profile and the frame size are two of the key factors for achieving perfect screens.
The frames that are normally used today are made of aluminum, because they are light-weight but nevertheless solid and robust.
It is important to make sure that your frame profiles are stable and exactly dimensioned for your screen size. An insufficient dimensioning is likely to cause big problems, among others:
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High loss of tension after the stretching process
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Unstable printing conditions
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Bending and / or twisting of the frames
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Premature wear
We thus recommend to use correctly dimensioned frame profiles (for larger screens the SLOPE profiles) with a sand-blasted surface and a qualitatively adequate product from a renowned supplier.
For additional information please visit our website.
www.grunig.ch
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