Basically has the packaging gravure printing a very complex and demanding requirement profile. Specific ink systems and substrates require in the context of compliance with all relevant packaging features a comprehensive know-how.

On this basis and in light of the general market trend with the trend of steadily increasing pressure quality standards at the same time reducing lot sizes is a key success factor lies in the cross-vendor standardization of processes.

The standardization of concepts should include all the essential printing process parameters and variables:

• Design system and reproduction
• printing form configuration
• Color Management
• Color System
• printing process

The potential of a successful standardization are to increase the basic security system, the possibility of increased efficiency, and not least in increasing customer satisfaction.

Over the last years the order sizes of the food packaging sector became smaller and smaller. Even if food consumption in Central Europe stayed nearly constantly more and more private and regional labels or premium, bio and wellness brands are taking over the shelves, especially in the chilled sector of processed meats and cheeses. The result is a split of total quantities within the segments which causes a drastic reduction of lot sizes.
To gear up for this situation is a hard challenge – especially for gravure printing.
The prepress as well as the printing production including their technical equipment were conceived for high circulations.
With a consequent standardisation of the processes of their in house repro department and cylinder production and an intelligent adaptation of planning, their machine technology and the whole peripheral equipment Wipak managed to adapt to this trend even with wide format printing machines.

Short runs production with rotogravure machine technology requires different demand on the machine supplier.
Different machine concepts will be presented witch one available on the market today. Short runs can be produced with narrow web as well with conventional width web gravure presses. Part of this presentation will be a comparison of production cost between narrow web and width web. Additional advantages will be present how to produce short runs more economical like short web path, fast Job change over as well the integration of auxiliary equipment should be help to reduce waste. On hand of Rotomec product range we like to present different machine concepts for different Product range.

Branded companies and retailers alike expect an ever-increasing print quality for their film packaging. Simultaneously, decreasing order sizes and continuous cost pressure challenge manufacturers and converters to find or combine respectively printing technologies, which are suitable and effective for them.
The paper is a field report from the point of view of a flexoprinter, who has successfully implemented rotogravure as a complementary printing process. The paper will point out the reasons for this decision and also illustrate the process as to how to select from the available machine concepts and technologies respectively (e.g. sleeve system). In doing so, both, rotogravure and flexographic printing will be compared to each other from the point of view of a printer.

- Presentation of DCM Group and the activities of the four companies
- Presentation of gravure printing in the DCM group
- DCM gravure printing and narrow web offer
- DCM gravure printing time equipment and advantage
- DCM gravure printing research and development
- DCM coating and laminating
- DCM rolling and cutting machine for the processing of processed films

What is the position of Mars with so many Brands within Snack/ Pet and Food
• What are their quality objectives
• They recognise that overall in the market quantities are dropping it makes it more important to have good process controls and procedures
• How can Mars still maintain quality throughout the supply chain. printing, prepress and ink etc.
• How can we standardise to maintain quality, control cost and reduce lead-times
• Forward control through good communication and by working together
Today Mars gives you that challenge,

Nils satis Nisi optimum
(nothing but the best is good enough)

Efficient Short Run Production in Gravure is easier said than done. It is, anyhow, far more then just installing modern narrow web gravure printing equipment. Critical aspects are the pressroom organization that must be changed from a linear meters bulk generator to a set-up- and waste-control focussed organization. The ink department and more-over the systems that enable to re-process press returns and as well the number of ink systems should be part of the short run philosophy, as is the attitude of the pressoperators (performing and maximizing change-overs instead of watching the machines printing) and the way working methods are implemented (such as pit-stop philosophy and parallelity instead of sequential working). Raw material waste in % is a major factor to be controlled, not only from the perspective of machine design- but also including ERP aspects. From an external point of view there are many limitations as suppliers from direct materials and tools do not, in real life, consider short run gravure as (potentially) major business. Finally, other print-technologies should be considered as well in the short run business, my initial scepticism regarding web offset for hybrid packaging purposes has been altered to web offset as a technology that starts to carry surmountable problem areas (critical issues are inks, web tension and machine hour-costs).