Exploring Middle Ground

Our mid-web press came totally assembled in one big crate, which allowed us to have it up and running in less than one week. Our operators have less climbing to do on this smaller press because everything is reachable from the floor. It means less wear and tear on their bodies.

Dave McDowell, President/Owner, McDowell Label & Screen Printing, Dallas, TX

Profile: Flexographic printer, labels and stand-up pouches

Currently, our widest press is 14 inches. Our niche is 4-color process graphics, primarily on labels, but also for a narrow segment of the flexible packaging industry. If growth occurs in our stand-up pouch work, this is what would push us to look at a mid-web press. Because we are limited in width, really big volumes eat us up. We would probably look at an affordable, 8-color 32 inches to 36 inches central-impression press for printing thin film. However, the wider you go, the more challenging it is to print quality. And, we currently enjoy easy changeovers on our narrow-web presses.