Optimization of flexo process parameters to reduce the overall  manufacturing cost

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Abstract

The flexo process parameters play an important role in ink transfer and will lead to wastage of inks, substrate, solvents and printed stocks if not monitored and controlled. The work focuses on optimizing the flexo process parameters for 40 microns 3-layer polyethylene (PE) film with Blue Nitrocellulose (NC) ink to reduce overall manufacturing cost while maintaining the print quality for diaper application. An experimental design was conducted for the response Ink GSM (grams per square meter), ΔE and Print Mottle with factors such as ink viscosity, anilox volume, plate dot shape and substrate opacity. The data was analyzed through Main Effect, Interaction Plot and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The regression models were developed for the response to validate the predictive ability of model. The process optimization resulted in reduction of Ink GSM, ΔE and Print Mottle by 18%, 52% and 1% respectively. The ink consumption reduced by 18.26% with minimized print defects, thereby reducing the overall manufacturing cost.

Keywords

Flexography

Polyethylene

Design of Experiments

Analysis of Variance

Regression

Conflict of interest

The authors declare they have no competing interests.

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An International Journal of Optimization and Control: Theories & Applications, Electronic ISSN: 2146-5703 Print ISSN: 2146-0957, Published by AccScience Publishing