Good Planning is Half the Battle!

When it comes to quality, CPC Haferkamp in Oldenburg, in northwest Germany, does not compromise. From the floor covering to the presses as well as the room temperature and air quality, the packaging and label specialist has optimized its production conditions down to the smallest detail-thereby laying the basis for its growth.

Nobody is allowed to enter the pressroom without wearing clean working clothes. On a huge floor area, half the size of a soccer field, six Heidelberg Speedmaster CD 102 presses-three of which are equipped with UV technology-produce in-mould and wet-glue labels. The printing company works for leading businesses in the global food and consumables industry. They appreciate the compelling quality that CPC Haferkamp has continuously and meticulously been enhancing since it started to specialize in packaging and labels. That included the planning of its new building: "Even for the first architectural layouts, we closely cooperated with Heidelberg. The surface conditions were defined exactly, for example, so the presses would operate without vibration. That is important for processing paper, but imperative for foil. Here, even the smallest lapses lead to visible imperfections," reports Axel Beneke, Operating Manager of CPC Haferkamp.

Heidelberg experts were part of the team when the infrastructure requirements were laid down. The printing company made use of the know-how of specialists from the most diverse fields, for instance to decide which power lines were needed or where to plan channels for water pipes and compressed-air lines. Material and workflow were just as important as the optimization of the press positions and their connection to Prinect Image Control.

Configuration & Parameters
CPC Haferkamp has expanded its foil label business in a targeted manner. It now makes up 40 percent of the overall production. The labels are printed and coated using UV technology. To avoid heat damage when processing foil, Haferkamp uses a CoolCure UV device with two of its six Speedmasters CD 102. It replaces oxygen by nitrogen during the printing process, thus improving the drying behavior while minimizing the heating of the material.

Electrostatic charge is also a challenge. To save time and money, the label specialist uses 40.1 inch- wide (102 cm) foil rolls with an average diameter of 3.28 feet (1m). The foil is unwound in-line by a Heidelberg CutStar and cut to the required format. "The shingling of the sheets creates an enormous adhesive force," explains Beneke. Together with Heidelberg, CPC Haferkamp has solved the problem: A newly developed additional apparatus prevents the build up of electrostatic charge during the shingling of the sheets. That makes the processing much easier and highly flexible: The sheeter can simply be pushed aside to print paper sheets.

Indoor Humidity & Drying Process
Once the sheets reach the delivery, it is important for them all to maintain the same moisture level. A detailed analysis of the air circulation in the pressroom is needed to isolate problem zones and correct the situation. CPC Haferkamp therefore continuously measures and adjusts the temperature and indoor humidity to balance variations and maintain its high quality standard. The raw material is stored in the pressroom, so it can adjust to the room temperature and air quality and be processed at its best.

Production Reliability & Top Performance
CPC Haferkamp operates around the clock in four shifts, from Sunday night to Saturday evening. On Sundays, the machines are maintained. To ensure constant adherence to delivery dates and top quality, the company carefully records the availability of every new machine during its first year and uses the record as a basis for optimization measures. Moreover, all machines are included in the service package Systemservice36plus by Heidelberg Germany. "We have established an excellent early-warning system based on the remote service. Heidelberg's reaction times are extremely short. Normally, the parts are delivered the next day," commends Beneke. That explains the company's high machine availability.

Without the close partnership with Heidelberg, the production conditions could not have been optimized so efficiently. To sum things up, Beneke says: "I can only advise all other printshops to plan their production factors precisely before expanding or building a press room and to make use of the experience and competence of Heidelberg."