🚀 Revolutionary Gravure Printing Machine from BOBST for the Packaging Industry: MASTER 6003! 🌍

[Alper Aktaş]

A New Era in the Packaging Sector: Less Waste, More Automation!​

As flexible packaging manufacturers grapple with continuously shrinking profit margins and increasing environmental scrutiny, BOBST has introduced its new MASTER 6003 gravure printing press, offering a solution to these challenges. This innovative platform aims to reduce solvent consumption and automate inking processes. Minimizing material losses in packaging production and standardizing operator workflows for short-run jobs are among the key focus areas of this new generation machine.

💧 Groundbreaking Innovations in Fluid Dynamics and Inking Circuit​

In traditional rotogravure printing, maintaining ink transfer stability across wide web widths typically requires a continuous circulation of high volumes of ink through open ink trays and supply lines. The MASTER 6003 radically changes this with its LeanPrint inking system. By redesigning the pipe geometry and optimizing the physical path from the ink supply tank to the application tray, the active ink volume circulating in the printing press has been reduced by 60% compared to the previous configuration!

Reducing the circulating ink volume limits the ink's exposure to the ambient environment, decreasing solvent evaporation and overall solvent consumption by up to 40%. Thanks to the automatic tray repositioning system, the tray is precisely adjusted to the gravure cylinder without manual intervention. This automatic adjustment ensures consistent hydrodynamic ink transfer even at high operating speeds.

⚙️ Automatic Cylinder Cleaning and Fast Job Changeover​

Bottlenecks in job preparation processes in gravure printing often stem from the mechanical cleaning of cylinder gravures and the physical handling of heavy ink reservoirs. The MASTER 6003 addresses these issues by offering an automatic cylinder gravure pre-washing system at each printing station. This localized cleaning cycle simultaneously targets dried ink residues in the smallest cell openings across all selected units, completing the washing process within one minute without requiring manual scrubbing!

Mechanical changeovers are further accelerated with a redesigned auxiliary carrier for bidirectional ink tank loading. The carrier architecture allows carts to be inserted and removed from both directions without physical obstructions, while an integrated mechanical reference system automatically aligns the cylinder according to the specific job repeat length, eliminating the need for secondary manual alignment. Ground-level positioning reduces the amount of physical lifting required to transport loaded ink containers, improving operational ergonomics during rapid job changeovers.

📊 Process Monitoring and Resource Tracking​

This new printing platform offers integrated telemetry hardware to capture fluid usage and auxiliary consumption metrics throughout each print run. Using inline pressure measurement transducers, the system calculates real-time data on active job consumption, the dynamic fluid volume circulating in hydraulic circuits, remaining ink reserves, and estimated fluid quantities required to complete active production batches.

These metrics are presented on a dedicated screen in the human-machine interface, along with continuous power and compressed air telemetry. Monitoring active electrical draw and pneumatic usage allows process engineers to detect mechanical resistance, pneumatic leaks, or thermal inefficiencies early in the production run. Centralized recording of fluid and energy metrics directly helps converters comply with industrial reporting protocols, customer supply chain documentation, and environmental audits regarding resource utilization.

Davide Rossello, BOBST Gravure Process R&D Manager, stated when evaluating the system engineering that the technical advancements focus on reducing fundamental material consumption, automating repetitive mechanical steps, and providing measurable visibility into production metrics without adding operational complexity to gravure converting lines.

💡 Additional Information: Environmental Impact and Efficiency​

Solvent-based gravure printing is subject to strict emission ceilings under environmental directives such as the European Union Industrial Emissions Directive (Directive 2010/75/EU) and regional volatile organic compound recovery standards. Compared to traditional open-fountain inking systems and conventional enclosed blade chambers, the volumes of ink circulating in high-speed gravure printing presses typically ranged from 15 to 30 liters per station, depending on print width and reservoir design. Systems that reduce circulation volume to below 10 liters significantly decrease wash solvent waste during press wash-ups. Furthermore, the one-minute automatic pre-wash cycle is highly advantageous compared to typical manual washing procedures, which can take 5 to 12 minutes per station during full-color rotations, thereby increasing the overall equipment effectiveness for converters handling short and medium order profiles.