APL organises LED UV open house at Maruthi Printers in Coimbatore

Thilak Kumar B, proprietor, Shree Maruthi Printers, said, “We were searching a product for value addition and print enhancement, and we found LED to be suitable for our requirement. Being a commercial printer, value addition is the key.”

APL Machinery is the Indian partner of the US-based Air Motion Systems, a manufacturer of UV and LED curing systems.

Maruthi opted for the AMS LED UV curing system in January 2015, and expects a 25% growth in its production. The installed LED UV lamp is of XP 7 series and XP 9 series of lamps is also available in the market.

Kumar, who drives a Mitsubishi Pajero, added, “The system’s low consumption of electricity saves decent amount of money for us. Instant drying and no need of powder are other advantages.”

Maruthi, a first generation print firm, specialises in visiting cards and marriage invitation cards. We produce more than 1.2 million visiting cards per day, said Kumar. The company has installed the LED UV system on its ten-colour Heidelberg SM 74 and the lamp length is 30 inches.

During the open house, APL Machinery changed four jobs in an hour’s time on different substrates, which received applauds from the attendees. RG Ranjith, proprietor of Sivakasi-based Selvaganesh Impressions, said, “I have attended few open houses on UV, but the print result on synthetic sheets here was more than expected. They also cut printed synthetic sheets immediately after print. It was an eye opener for me.”

CP Paul, managing director, APL Machinery, said, "The LED trend will surely catch up, primarily due to energy saving. Already, it has been successfully adapted in televisions and automobiles. Next is lighting. Trends of developing LED technology will replace conventional UV in a short span of time.”

LED eliminates heat, makes the set process faster while a single lamp cures at top press speeds. It has lowest energy footprint, and it cures on any material while producing high-quality print. It is also completely green.

Abhishek Paul of APL Machinery added, earlier availability of LED UV printing inks was an issue but right now more than 15 inks manufacturers are providing inks in India. LED UV facilitates instant drying and with no marking. There is no requirement of warm-up and cool-down time.

The life of a single LED UV lamp is more than 20,000 hours as compared to conventional UV lamp (around 800 hrs).

"In addition to eliminating the need of bulbs, UV LED ends mercury or ozone exposure. Pressmen really notice the difference when running the press with LED," Paul said.

"Fast installation is another benefit. The press is down for two to three weeks while installing UV," he said, adding that the AMS system is compatible to all presses, not just with those designed for UV.

Optimistic, APL expects five more installations of LED UV in the next month. Globally, the installation of AMS LED UV systems has crossed the 400 mark.

More than 25 students from a local printing institute also attended the event.