Productivity Applications 4/15 - Printing Machines

A safety violation in one area allows that area to respond quickly, maybe executing a knife cut and dumping excess paper very quickly..

Large, high speed printers (like those for newspapers) can be very dangerous. Typically, if there is a violation of the safe space around the equipment it calls for an immediate shutdown. The primary function, safety for the workers is preserved, but there is a commercial cost in terms of significant loss of product, perhaps damage to the web control, and the need to reset the machine. In an alternative process, a high speed printer operation can be viewed as having different safety zones, each controlled by its own motor in synchronization with the other motors.

By treating each section in this way, a safety violation in one area allows that area to respond quickly, maybe executing a knife cut and dumping excess paper very quickly while the other sections adjust their speed in such a way to protect their functions but also ramp down the speed in a safe manner. This maintains the safety aspects, while also reducing the commercial cost of a safety violation.