Moeller Printing Improves Quality and Consistency

PressTune is getting everyone excited at Moeller Printing, where it is bringing benchmarking tools, along with ways to track and solve problems early to keep the shop competitive.

You can’t fix a problem if you don’t even know you have one.

Moeller Printing, a family-owned business in Indianapolis since 1931, can capture and collect real-time information to make adjustments on press and even in prepress, identify ways to be more consistently efficient, catch issues before they become problems, and track trends over time, which ultimately reduces costs.

Moeller Printing installed PressTune as part of the Agfa’s (Booth 8242) ECO3 system. ECO3 is an integrated solution of plates, software, and expertise that increases productivity, efficiencies, and quality, while lowering the total cost of print manufacturing. Moeller uses Azura TU chemistry-free plates for its high-volume printing, which eliminates process variables, and delivers reliable and consistent results.

PressTune helps Moeller monitor quality, raise print standards, and ultimately reduce costs in the pressroom. It is a unique print standardization solution with powerful analytic capabilities. PressTune guarantees color consistency, increases productivity by lowering ink and paper consumption, reduces make-ready waste, and improves communication between prepress operator, quality management, and print buyers.

“PressTune allows us to take the guesswork out of what we may be missing, and where we may be missing the mark,” says Chuck Moeller, vice president, Moeller Printing.

For example, with PressTune, Moeller Printing found they were mixing fountain solution incorrectly; they cut back on fountain solution, saving money and improving quality.

They also decreased their make ready time, and learned they had an issue with calcium build up on their rollers that needed to be addressed. They received key information to maintain plate curves, ensuring compliance to published gray balance and dot gain targets, so they knew, when pulling their first press sheets, where they were relative to their print standard, reducing make ready time.

“We didn’t have that before; we couldn’t rate the sheets in terms of color consistency. PressTune lets us do that,” says Moeller.

PressTune is getting everyone excited at Moeller Printing, even the press operators, who now have a benchmarking tool.

“The press guys are often skeptical about anything new. You have to prove it to them. They were gun shy at first, but now they are really excited,” says Moeller. “There’s not a lot of margin in the work we do. You have to be efficient in every part of your business or you’re not going to make it. We know we have to keep up with current technology and this is a key component.”

Moeller is also testing InkTune, an ink optimization software that improves color stability on press, as well as image quality and consistency. As a result, they are realizing new levels of quality and savings by applying this technology to every job. The reduction in ink usage is tangible regardless of the run length.

“We have one thing to sell here, and that’s service. Anyone who is left in the printing business today can print. Anyone who didn’t embrace technology is gone. PressTune is providing a huge advantage which we could not afford to put together on our own,” says Moeller.

PressTune and InkTune, as integral parts of the ECO3 system, are just a few ways Agfa is demonstrating its commitment to sustainable innovation that focuses on ecology, economy, and extra convenience. Agfa’s hardware, software, and consumables are making prepress and printing operations cleaner, more cost-effective, and easier to operate and maintain.