... technotrans ink pumping system

Gemini Press has opted to introducing an ink pumping system to connect to the Speedmaster XL 75-5+L which was installed at the end of last year and the new Speedmaster XL 106-5 which is being commissioned this month.

“Ink pumping eliminates cartridge waste, ink remnant and reduces our carbon footprint by reducing the number of ink deliveries. It’s an environmentally enlightened approach to inking and green is high on our agenda as an ISO 14001 company which uses only PEFC and FSC paper stocks” says Steve Cropper, managing director.

“With this level of press capacity we need a high volume of ink. Buying it by the barrel load is cost-effective and it also takes away another job from the operator, leaving him free to concentrate on other production issues. My calculations suggest ink pumping will pay for itself within 18 months.”

Both presses are installed at the company’s Shoreham headquarters and were part of the Gemini Group’s massive £3.4m investment programme that also included two Kodak digital presses.

technotrans has been at the forefront of ink application developments over the past 20 years. It has been instrumental in the industry’s move from tins to cartridges, which eliminates skin waste and provides a cleaner working environment. In the last five years it has seen a massive move by companies with larger presses or multi presses from cartridges to ink pumping and it believes more companies still will convert. The UK arm of ancillaries supplier technotrans is based in Colchester.