Beyond the press: Optimising downstream workflow for maximum productivity

While the industry frequently fixates on the multi-million-dollar investments of primary printing machinery, the reality of the modern shop floor is that a press is only as productive as the parts that feed it. Speaking during GRA Talks Factory at Pelcain Rotoflex on 13 February, Michael Ruschenbeck, area sales manager at Renzmann, emphasised that downstream processes—specifically cleaning and solvent recovery—are the silent gatekeepers of quality and uptime.

The hidden cost of manual cleaning

The transition from long-run consistency to a diverse marketplace—moving from packaging two types of chocolates to packaging twenty types of chocolates—places an immense burden on the washing room. Manual cleaning, while common, introduces a variable that modern lean manufacturing cannot afford: human inconsistency. Whether a technician is unmotivated or simply distracted, a poorly cleaned ink trolley or chambered doctor blade can lead to colour contamination, increased rejects, and expensive press downtime.

Renzmann’s approach shifts this burden from the individual to a standardised, automated process. By transitioning from manual scrubbing to automated systems, packaging service providers can reduce the cleaning time of a complex ink trolley from ninety minutes to just thirty minutes.

Closing the loop with solvent recovery

Central to the Renzmann philosophy is the concept of the circle. In a traditional linear model, dirty solvent is treated as waste or sent off-site for mediocre recovery rates. Ruschenbeck argued for a centralised, internal distillation process that allows the same solvent to be reused repeatedly within the factory. While third-party recycling might return 60% of the product, an in-house Renzmann distillation unit can push that recovery rate as high as 92%, and with our most powerful distillation unit, Rotomax, even up to 95%.

This circle transforms a recurring expense into a sustainable asset. By distilling dirty solvent back to its original purity, packaging service providers can reduce their new solvent purchases to a mere 10% or 20% of their previous volume. This process, which Ruschenbeck likened to the simplicity of cooking at home—boiling off the pure liquid and leaving the sludge behind—is the cornerstone of an environmentally responsible and fiscally lean operation.

A partnership beyond the catalogue

The Renzmann mission is built on offering the highest quality in standard machinery. But because every plant layout and part geometry is unique, we can accommodate individual requests and adapt our standard to the specific needs of our customers. The company also advocates for a basket and floor audit. This way, Renzmann engineers can tailor a machine’s internal configuration to ensure a clean result in a single process. By laying out all parts required for a single wash cycle on the floor and photographing them, Renzmann engineers can tailor a machine’s internal configuration to ensure a 100% clean result in a single process.

This commitment to longevity is reflected in the hardware itself. With machines built to operate for thirty years or more, the focus remains on stable, robust engineering that survives the rigours of the print shop. Even as the industry explores water-based transitions, the infrastructure provided by these downstream solutions remains adaptable.

As the session at Pelican Rotoflex concluded, the message was clear: the washing room should no longer be an afterthought in the plant layout. By bringing the downstream process into the spotlight, packaging service providers can protect their employees, safeguard their resources, and ensure that their expensive printing presses are always ready to run.