Knowing how much flexo ink is needed for a particular job and ensuring that it is used effectively can significantly improve your profitability.
It's important to know some ways to calculate ink levels and examine steps you can take to make the entire printing process more efficient.
A word of caution: While online ink consumption calculators are helpful for estimating, please note that an accurate estimate of how much ink you will need will require a thorough production consumption test of the printing ink, substrate, image carrier and press to be used.
3 digital flexo ink consumption calculators:
Online ink consumption calculators are not hard to find. However, there are differences between each other. Here is a brief introduction to some of them:
1. Flexo exchange
Of the three calculators considered here, this one takes into account the most variables, including:
Substrate width
Substrate length
Substrate quantity, including waste overruns and any other overruns
The minimum amount of ink required for the print station to operate, not only the ink consumed, but also the minimum amount of ink required to ensure a smooth flow of the system
Anilox roll volume required for a specific color
Ink Percent Transferred, taking into account the amount of ink that remains on the anilox roll after transfer to the image carrier and actually transfers from the image carrier to the substrate. This value will be adjusted empirically and as needed.
Ink coverage percentage, based on label area covered by ink color, i.e. color image area/label area
Taken together, these numbers will give you the total amount of ink consumed by the job (in gallons), and how much you need to mix (again, in gallons).
2. glow
The company offers an online calculator, but be warned: Customers shouldn't use it to estimate how much ink they'll need to create a quote or generate a print run.
The calculator uses fairly little information to provide ink levels:
printing method
print area width
print area height
coverage
print volume
For a quick, rough estimate of ink needs, this calculator can come in handy, since the numbers needed are readily available. However, something closer to the first example may yield more accurate information.
3. ZELLER + GMELIN UV printing ink
Further reducing the number of variables, Zeller+Gmelin requires four:
Substrate width
Substrate length
print run number
Number of stations
The company also mentions other variables that can change from printer to printer and print run to print run, such as:
temperature
Types of Printed Image Carriers
Affects the wear of the anilox roll
printing speed
Substrate type
Also, for a quick estimate of ink needs, this calculator may be helpful. However, your situation may be very different from what Zeller+Gmelin calls "a good fit approximation". You should test it in your own store before relying on it.
Calculate your ink consumption to save money
Before getting into the details of how calculating ink consumption can cut costs, it's important to mention that how you manage the ink you use can affect the price of a job.
Using the wrong ink or not mixing ingredients correctly for a particular application can cause the following problems:
poor adhesion
smearing and bleeding
Incorrect color intensity
Poor ink management can also lead to excessive consumption due to:
Lost ink when starting or finishing a run
Metering roller is too soft
old or weak ink
too high viscosity
The amount of anilox roll is too large
Comparing actual ink usage to calculated ink needs can help you start making necessary corrections. These fixes may include:
Reduce ink viscosity
Replacement parts, such as anilox rollers
Change the way you handle ink at both ends of the printing process
