Consistency in quality with least waste whilst running alcohol free is the motivation behind an investment by Greenhouse Graphics in technotrans' pressroom peripherals.
The Bramley company has taken delivery of an alpha.c circulator for temperature control, an alpha.r water treatment system and alpha.f filtration system for retaining optimum control of the dampening solution. These were recommended by Komori which has recently delivered an LS 429 H-UV low energy press.
Greenhouse Graphics, as its name implies, was set up 21 years ago with sustainability at the core of its business. It has held ISO 14001 environmental accreditation since 2009 and, despite starting from a very green base, has successfully fulfilled its pledge to continue to improve its environmental credentials year on year.
It is currently very focused on reducing its carbon footprint. It can provide customers with a carbon measure at point of estimating and offer them options to change papers and processes to fit their sustainability ambitions.
"Just neutralising a job is not good environmental practice. You can just end up paying more to carry on with unsustainable methods. It is far better to measure and offer options on how green you go," says Ian Crossley, managing director.
He has eliminated alcohol from the plant which runs the B2 Komori and a B3 Ryobi. This cuts out IPAs and reduces VOCs which are harmful to the atmosphere.
"We used to have a smaller reverse osmosis system before but the technotrans alpha.r is a much higher level solution and very robust. We can see the difference immediately," says Mr Crossley.
"This gives us a predictable pH and hardness and the filtration keeps the water and chemistry in the dampening solution consistent, giving up better control of the process which is critical when you run without any alcohol. The circulator maintains the optimum temperature so that the ink tack is right too. The peripherals investment means we operate sustainably and with confidence."
The company has always had technotrans featured on presses it has used in the past through the OEM agreements technotrans has with many of the press suppliers. It knows the peripherals are reliable, relatively trouble-free and easy to maintain. For a green-minded printer they offer the right advice and support and so they were happy to choose the company as it supplier again this time.