Yellowstone Plastics Set to Install New KBA-Flexotecnica EVO XG Press
From left, Michael Hunter, COO of Volm Companies/Yellowstone Plastics, and Dan Mueller, president and CEO of Volm Companies
Yellowstone Plastics, a leading flexographic packaging producer and a member of the Volm Companies, has inked a contract to purchase a new 10-color KBA-Flexotecnica EVO XG press — its first from the company. The new press is scheduled to arrive at Yellowstone’s facility in Idaho Falls, Idaho after the first of the year and be operational in early 2017.
"Due to our growth, our firm is being asked to take on additional capacity while our customers are seeking faster turnaround and more high-end, life-like designs on their flexo packaging products," says Daniel Mueller, president and CEO of Volm Companies. "The trend is toward more than simple six-color line printing for eight to 10-color process work. Rather than just printing a potato on the pouch, we’re printing an image of the family that grew the potatoes or the field where they were grown. This is an important capability for us to have for our core industry of potato farmers as well as our lawn and garden clients. We felt the EVO XG would deliver on all accounts."
Mueller and his team were also impressed with KBA's superior press automation and its management team's ability to customize its press. Due to Yellowstone's customers that require shorter lead times, Mueller expressed interest in press automation to bring the press up to print faster, decrease downtime, and reduce waste. His team was also excited about KBA-Flexotecnica's preventive maintenance programs available from the North American Dallas headquarters and the flexibility of KBA-Flexotecnica to custom-engineer its press. The scheduled KBA-Flexotecnica's preventive maintenance program is available for all KBA customers in North America.
The 10-color Flexotecnica EVO XG press being installed at Yellowstone features a raft of new technology. Its innovative operating concept facilitates minimal start-up times when changing jobs. The patented auto impression (AIF) and user-friendly register control keep start-up waste to a minimum. Meeting the challenge to speed turnaround time and reduce costs, Yellowstone chose time-saving components like the Speedy Clean automatic wash-up system and in-line viscosity control with InkSpec viscometers, auto-impression setting, and click-and-drag zero-waste registration along with numerous quality control options such as a 100% inspection camera and in-line color control using an inline photospectrodensitometer.
It’s no wonder that the new EVO XG is currently the most installed press from KBA-Flexotecnica. A key unique feature compared to competitors’ presses is its highly efficient drying system, co-developed with a team of experts from Milan University. The press thus meets even the highest demands in terms of quality with the high web speeds.
"We pursued a very extensive process to choose our next flexo press," recalls Mueller. "After five presentations on site, we flew to Milan to visit the KBA-Flexotecnica headquarters to put the press through some print trials. After our lead engineer got a look into the press and liked what he saw, we made the decision to purchase the KBA-Flexotecnica EVO XG over the competitors."
The new KBA-Flexotecnica EVO XG press will be installed at Yellowstone’s newly-expanded production facility located in Idaho Falls, Idaho, which houses printing, converting and laminating equipment to accommodate projects of all sizes. The facility has five wide-web flexo CI presses up to 67˝ web width and up to 10 colors with special options available for packaging exceeding 67˝ in web width. It uses solvent-based inks as well as fade and weather-resistant inks for outdoor applications. Substrates include monolayer and co-ex polyethylene, polyester, nylon and polypropylene.
"We could have fit the new EVO XG press in our current structure but we decided to use this installation to invest in our Idaho Falls facility and increase our print throughput," says Mueller. "We added 20,000 sq. ft. of space to the current building for the new press as well as an expansion of our ink department. It also provided us with the opportunity to fine-tune our workflow. We’ll be hiring more press operators and investing in a larger oxidizer for the six presses."
Started in 1998 on open ground in Idaho Falls, Yellowstone was formed to fill a void within the flexible packaging industry for providing packaging to the produce industry on a quick turn basis. The firm has grown from a single bag machine to an 80,000 sq. ft. facility that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Its stable of flexo printing presses, solventless laminating capabilities and myriad of converting machinery makes Yellowstone Plastics a one stop for flexible packaging solutions.
