One of the leading wide-web flexography printing companies has purchased a Fully Automatic Mounting Machine (FAMM) last year. In this business case they have shared the data they gathered after switching from manual mounting to fully automatic mounting. As a frame of reference, keep in mind that this company has a plant with six flexo printing presses and handles in between 22.000 and 24.000 sleeves each year.

The first and most apparent change is that the Fully Automatic Mounting Machine replaces three traditional flexo mounting machines. The mounting department has been reduced significantly, because the FAMM is three times more efficient than any traditional mounter. This means that the operators of the manual mounting machines can now use their time for other tasks. In that time the machine mounts the plates onto sleeves.

This also means that instead of three operators, the flexo mounting department will only need one. When considering the numbers of the organization it shows that the plant will save $80.000 annually. This is based on the average yearly expenses of an employee in the United States. A big save. Any experienced printer in the flexography industry is committed to saving costs wherever they can.

FLEXO PRINTING ADVANTAGES

A large aspect here accounts for the losses suffered when a printing press has to shut down due to errors in the mounting department. On average, in a manual mounting department, the flexo plant experiences 15 to 20 hours of press downtime every single week. That is a significant amount of time and therefore money that the company loses. When replacing the manual mounters with a Fully Automatic Mounting Machine, the hours of mounting related press downtime each week are zero.

The flexo printer does not need to worry about the printing press downtime any longer. This means that the plant will save an average of $375,000 each year. This number is based on the average press downtime costs per hour for a wide web printing press.

These advantages are all achieved when replacing the manual mounting process with the fully automatic mounting workflow. It is clear that the company in this example saved a significant amount of money by investing in a FAMM of AV Flexologic, which is why they chose to share their story.

The return on investment is so significant that it is only a matter of time before the entire flexography industry has switched to the fully automatic mounting way of life.

FAMM 1700