A conference providing a first-hand account, but also an appeal and a salutation: in India Rossini offers itself as an ambassador for quality and explains to the print machine builders why you need to choose the “right” equipment.
Felice Rossini, president of Rossini SpA, was invited to Mumbai as a speaker at the Fourth Specialty Film and Packaging Global Conference organized by ElitePlus++ 15 and 16 September 2015 (a reminder that the multinational from Rescaldina, Italy, producer of print and converting rolls, opened its Indian works at Pune last November Ed).
His was a talk of both “head and heart”, with the idea of building a bridge between print and converting machine manufacturers, and component and equipment suppliers, on the common road towards quality and efficiency.
At the centre of the matter, the precious – and all too underrated – contribution that a complementary equipment brings to the correction achievement of a work process, of the optimum yield of a system or piece of equipment and the overall cost effectiveness of a production cycle.
The warm applause from the audience and numerous contacts during the Indian event confirm the effectiveness and the good reception of his message.
Please find below the text of the report. In this speech I would like to transfer to all of you my 50 years personal experience as equipment manufacturer for printing and coating machines in the flexible packaging industry.
I am very pleased to see so many people present, people whose presence is a clear proof of the strategic importance of the Gravure and Flexo Printing and Lamination Process.
The reason for this is that I feel, in the current world economic situation, that it is the responsibility of the company leader to communicate directly to customers and to share his experience with all of you. Exactly because of my own personal experience within our group producing in various locations in Europe, in the United States, in South America and in Asia that I can confirm the importance of our action to support the customers in continuously improving the process through technical innovation and wise investments in machines and auxiliary equipment.
[Cost or investment?]
From our experience we see a great stride of the western market to invest in higher quality components in the gravure and flexo printing and lamination process to improve production efficiency and product quality while Asia makes substantial investments in technical advanced machines and less in high level and top quality accessories. What surprises me in this market is that when the companies buy new machines they seem to be more concerned with the pure cost of the auxiliary components instead of evaluating their quality and the process benefits they provide.
[Contributions to quality]
I invite you to consider this simple truth: a good register control, a good doctor blade, a good plate sleeve, a good impression roller, a good transfer roller, a good tape or a good anilox will improve the efficiency and quality of even a low cost machine while applying a cheaper product will compromise the quality of even the best machines on the market. Making a couple of examples: in gravure printing, the original Speedwell sleeves avoid register problems during production; in lamination, where a lot of companies use transfer rollers without steps and also made with wrong elastomers compromising the quality of the final product. It is clear that, if the customer starts using different rollers for the different film width and made with the right rubber coating like our Polycoat rollers for solventless lamination, not only is a nice green color attained, it gives top level lamination quality, lower use of glue and a roller life of 4/5 years …as well as also increasing Rossini’s turnover naturally!
[ROI as an unknown quantity]
The possible examples are infinite, and cover many different types of equipment. The use of electrostatic assistance in gravure printing doesn’t only improve the quality but also reduces pressure and the use of ink.
Equipping the flexo printing machine with an automatic central drum cleaner also provides the benefit of avoiding manual work and also drastically reduces machine down time. Hence, the quality of the press and the quality of the components is directly proportional to the product’s output, machine’s production speed and ultimately the ROI or Return On Investment.
I have personally seen important companies spend some millions on machines and then select middle or bottom level accessories in a bid to save a few thousand dollars.
[A common philosophy]
I am personally convinced that we have the duty to develop a new philosophy that should be adopted and promoted by all the equipment manufacturers. What I mean by this is that our companies must have a soul – that is, we must be constantly in touch with end users in traditional and emerging markets and be aware of their needs and requests. We must educate where there is miss-conception and identify, with you, possible weaknesses to ensure that you maintain your leadership in the market.
We should be ready and pro-active to give to our customers an hand in their difficult tasks. This is why my company has always striven and will continue to strive to develop and innovate so that we can guarantee the top quality of all our products. We provide a service that is timely, technically proficient and always in the best interest of the customer. A service that is exceptional and second to none.
I believe that all the companies should offer the same superlative levels of products and services to their customers…
[Hallo future]
I would like to conclude in the hope that I have managed to communicate my vision, and in the hope that you agree with me on the importance of the top quality and high technology of the auxiliary equipment used with the machines: a guarantee of excellence, productivity and profitability for our customers. Finally, thank you all, customers, dear friends, for your attention and for the possibility to talk to you during this meeting. I wish you all a successful future, full of opportunities and growth.
Felice Rossini
