Anthony Locicero, Associate Editor01.15.18
Milling and mixing equipment manufacturers are expecting growth in 2018 and beyond – but it’s a (no pun intended) mixed bag, depending on who you speak to. Jayson Hayday of Jaygo Corp. is “very optimistic” while Ed D’Errico of Sigma Equipment Corporation, said he doesn’t “expect huge growth, only about 10% increase in turnover from 2017.”
“We always contemplate growth in the marketplace with the ever-changing industries,” added Dave Peterson of Engineered Mills, Inc.
Some of the growth can be attributed to a customer base in the graphics arts field.
Has that translated to new investments in milling and mixing equipment, though?
“Yes, there is an increase in production of ink liquid toners,” Hayday said.
“Our customers are facing increasing demand for more customized, special products,” said Heather Dickey of Buhler Group. “Smaller batches and larger variety of different products ask for more efficient but highly flexible production processes and mass-customization.”
Leo Gurovich of STR Industries said investment in new mixing equipment is significantly down since “2017 was a consolidation year for the ink industry.”
“Growth has remained somewhat static, with many companies using their existing equipment unless they have a specific need,” added Peterson. “Customers are looking for value, ease of use and manufacturing support. In many cases there is interest in buying from a local company who is also the manufacturer.”
Changing Markets
The primary markets for graphic arts have shifted from publication/commercial to packaging and digital over the past decade. Not only did this change the type of media and equipment, it affected the “total consumption of media needed,” Gurovich said.
According to D’Errico, customers are looking for smaller sizes of media.
“New mills are required to be able to use smaller and smaller grinding media while controlling process temperatures,” Peterson added. “Data collection has increased to allow users to evaluate the electricity cost of operation and provide repeatability from batch to batch.”
Dickey added, “From an equipment perspective there is a clear trend towards bead milling applications with the use of smaller grinding media. Water-based products become predominant.”
More opportunities in the packaging and digital printing markets are there.
“Digital markets seem to be growing and we see more interest by potential users,” Peterson said.
“There is a high demand for new type of media, aka nanotechnology,” Gurovich said.
An Ink Maker’s Perspective
When it comes to new equipment, what are the most important needs that customers are looking for when they are investing in it?
Joe Cichon, VP of manufacturing for INX International Ink Co., said that the old standards – total cost of ownership and return on investment – are still there, but new factors have arisen.
“In addition, the key factors are ease of use for operators and efficiency of operation. When I say efficiency, I mean reduced setup time and the highest throughput rates. With the aging workforce and the newer generations, it is becoming more difficult to get our younger generation interested in manufacturing jobs,” he said.
“The technology explosion of today is helping to fill this gap,” added Cichon. “If the newer machines can be more sophisticated in automation and control systems, with display screens that can indicate current operation conditions and settings, it challenges the operators to use their technical skills to understand the readouts and optimize the equipment.”
Monitoring the equipment is also essential.
“Not only do we want equipment that is capable of operating at the highest throughput rates, but we need to be able to monitor the key performance variables to assure that we are constantly at optimum conditions,” Cichon noted. “Wear indicators and sensors help identify when maintenance is needed is also becoming a possibility with the IIOT and big data advanced analytics. The objective is to have machines that run at optimum conditions and give us advanced warning of any eminent slowdowns or failures.”
Cichon also described the differences in requirements for milling and mixing equipment from publication and commercial inks to packaging and digital inks.
“For publication and commercial inks, both the mixing and milling requirements are typically of a much larger scale than for either packaging or digital inks,” he said. “However, as the markets mature, the growth of packaging has made that difference much smaller. I am sure the same will happen with digital as well. With the changes in printing technology, the lines become even more blurred. Digital is moving into many aspects of commercial and packaging systems. If I had to group the question into like-items, I would say that publication and commercial and packaging are similar in mixing and grinding needs, and digital stands out with some very special requirements.
“The main difference with digital is on the milling side, and the critical point of application through inkjet printers,” Cichon continued. “Dispersion levels are typically much more critical for digital, and removal of tiny contaminants such as airborne dust particles is also critical for digital inks. With sizes measured in microns, it does not take much to clog a nozzle. The dispersions must be down into the nano particle size, and must be extremely stable as well. This typically requires media mill dispersions with media one-tenth the size used in typical commercial inks.
“Another difference that is simply inherent in the applications is the type of printing itself,” he concluded. “Flexo, gravure, and digital inks are typically liquid inks, and require different mixers and mills than the commercial and publication offset paste ink would use.”
“We always contemplate growth in the marketplace with the ever-changing industries,” added Dave Peterson of Engineered Mills, Inc.
Some of the growth can be attributed to a customer base in the graphics arts field.
Has that translated to new investments in milling and mixing equipment, though?
“Yes, there is an increase in production of ink liquid toners,” Hayday said.
“Our customers are facing increasing demand for more customized, special products,” said Heather Dickey of Buhler Group. “Smaller batches and larger variety of different products ask for more efficient but highly flexible production processes and mass-customization.”
Leo Gurovich of STR Industries said investment in new mixing equipment is significantly down since “2017 was a consolidation year for the ink industry.”
“Growth has remained somewhat static, with many companies using their existing equipment unless they have a specific need,” added Peterson. “Customers are looking for value, ease of use and manufacturing support. In many cases there is interest in buying from a local company who is also the manufacturer.”
Changing Markets
The primary markets for graphic arts have shifted from publication/commercial to packaging and digital over the past decade. Not only did this change the type of media and equipment, it affected the “total consumption of media needed,” Gurovich said.
According to D’Errico, customers are looking for smaller sizes of media.
“New mills are required to be able to use smaller and smaller grinding media while controlling process temperatures,” Peterson added. “Data collection has increased to allow users to evaluate the electricity cost of operation and provide repeatability from batch to batch.”
Dickey added, “From an equipment perspective there is a clear trend towards bead milling applications with the use of smaller grinding media. Water-based products become predominant.”
More opportunities in the packaging and digital printing markets are there.
“Digital markets seem to be growing and we see more interest by potential users,” Peterson said.
“There is a high demand for new type of media, aka nanotechnology,” Gurovich said.
An Ink Maker’s Perspective
When it comes to new equipment, what are the most important needs that customers are looking for when they are investing in it?
Joe Cichon, VP of manufacturing for INX International Ink Co., said that the old standards – total cost of ownership and return on investment – are still there, but new factors have arisen.
“In addition, the key factors are ease of use for operators and efficiency of operation. When I say efficiency, I mean reduced setup time and the highest throughput rates. With the aging workforce and the newer generations, it is becoming more difficult to get our younger generation interested in manufacturing jobs,” he said.
“The technology explosion of today is helping to fill this gap,” added Cichon. “If the newer machines can be more sophisticated in automation and control systems, with display screens that can indicate current operation conditions and settings, it challenges the operators to use their technical skills to understand the readouts and optimize the equipment.”
Monitoring the equipment is also essential.
“Not only do we want equipment that is capable of operating at the highest throughput rates, but we need to be able to monitor the key performance variables to assure that we are constantly at optimum conditions,” Cichon noted. “Wear indicators and sensors help identify when maintenance is needed is also becoming a possibility with the IIOT and big data advanced analytics. The objective is to have machines that run at optimum conditions and give us advanced warning of any eminent slowdowns or failures.”
Cichon also described the differences in requirements for milling and mixing equipment from publication and commercial inks to packaging and digital inks.
“For publication and commercial inks, both the mixing and milling requirements are typically of a much larger scale than for either packaging or digital inks,” he said. “However, as the markets mature, the growth of packaging has made that difference much smaller. I am sure the same will happen with digital as well. With the changes in printing technology, the lines become even more blurred. Digital is moving into many aspects of commercial and packaging systems. If I had to group the question into like-items, I would say that publication and commercial and packaging are similar in mixing and grinding needs, and digital stands out with some very special requirements.
“The main difference with digital is on the milling side, and the critical point of application through inkjet printers,” Cichon continued. “Dispersion levels are typically much more critical for digital, and removal of tiny contaminants such as airborne dust particles is also critical for digital inks. With sizes measured in microns, it does not take much to clog a nozzle. The dispersions must be down into the nano particle size, and must be extremely stable as well. This typically requires media mill dispersions with media one-tenth the size used in typical commercial inks.
“Another difference that is simply inherent in the applications is the type of printing itself,” he concluded. “Flexo, gravure, and digital inks are typically liquid inks, and require different mixers and mills than the commercial and publication offset paste ink would use.”