Innovation and Flexibility

Innovation
and flexibility
Set up by two brothers, Cesare and Emore Campioli, in 1952, Italian company OMSO SpA is a global leader in the
manufacturing of first-class printing machines. Innovation and flexibility are absolutely central to its work. Barbara
Rossi spoke to its CEO, Alfredo Campioli.
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“O
ur specialism is equipment for printing decorations on containers such as
tubes, bottles, cap closures, cups, lids and boxes. Our machines can print
on different types of plastic, glass and metal. This has been our area of
activity from our very beginning, although things have evolved a lot over the years both
in terms of the types of plastic used and the technologies employed. Our core products,
also offering the greatest growth potential, are machines for printing on tubes, bottles and
cups; although lids and cap closures play a role as well, especially in terms of the beverage
sector,” explained Mr Campioli.
“The technologies used are dry offset, flexographic and screen printing. Flexographic
printing has been added in the past few years and has a very significant field of application, owing to the fact that it achieves a printing quality comparable to that of photography. We have developed our servo platform exactly to be able to utilise flexographic
printing on the items that our clients need to decorate, in other words tubes, bottles and
cups. Recent company developments (Ultratube, Servobottle, Servocup) have been based
on this technology.”
UV LED for low migration is a great new technology that is now available to customers. UV LED technology from Phoseon offers consistent stability and a long life time
which are both fundamental to low migration printing processes. LED offers more than
20,000 hours of operation with only minimal power drop over time. Process stability
plays a fundamental role in GMP (good manufacturing practice) and is very important
to product manufacturers and brand owners as they can ensure their products are cured
consistently and safely, run after run, without having to worry about bulb degradation.
Constant innovation
The most recent product development was a machine capable of printing decorations
on the opposite sides of soft plastic fruit containers (usually used for products such as
strawberries and cherries, for example). This is also based on flexographic printing and
is particularly significant because these containers are not rigid and are transparent,
making the printing process particularly challenging. The new machine is actually able to
print each of the lateral sides of the container in up to six colours and, having been fully
developed, is ready for delivery.
“Another important innovation is that of digital printing. This is a completely new
technology for us, which we will offer alongside our existing printing processes. It offers
real advantages with regard to the printing of small batches, with the added benefit of allowing the customer to choose from a range of decorative patterns stored in the memory.
Switching from one type of decoration to the other can be done by pressing a button.
These machines are under development and will be presented at trade fairs in 2015.”
The majority of production takes place at The Reggio Emilia site, which occupies an
area of 11,000m2, but the OMSO group also includes Fontani e Lasagni, a company
which was once one of its suppliers. This company, also based in Reggio Emilia, produces
engineering and on-board components, as well as software, which are then incorporated
in the OMSO machines. Then there is OMSO Orient (India), a manufacturer of components and some complete machines (usually models which do not need to be manufactured to a high technological level). It serves various markets and some of the products it
distributes are made in Reggio Emilia.
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Technai Team Srl
The case history of the relationship between OMSO and Technai Team, is
based on a joint project carried out in co-design by engineers from both
companies in order to achieve optimal integration of Technai torque motor
in the main system drive of the rotary table of Omso, whose dynamic
performance determine the main assumption of the output capacity of the
entire printing production system.
“Our core products, also offering the greatest
growth potential, are machines for printing on
tubes, bottles and cups; although lids and cap
closures play a role as well, especially in terms of
the beverage sector.”
Recommended by leading printing machine manufacturers:
RUCO’s innovative LED-curing inks
In times of surging energy costs, energy-efficient production techniques are
becoming increasingly sought after. In the printing industry, LED technology
is one option in this regard. RUCO Printing Inks recognized the sign of
the times early on and has been working at full throttle on LED-curing
versions of its ‘flagship’ ink series. During recent months, the company has
added various innovative LED ink series to its product portfolio and is now
in a position to cover a wide range of applications. LED-curing inks from
RUCO have successfully proved their worth in particular in the field of glass
decoration as well as in plastic tube and container decoration. In addition to
their cost-saving potential, these LED inks also enable shorter production
cycles and improved process security to be achieved, whilst offering the same
benefits as the respective base series with regard to resistance characteristics,
opacity and brilliance of colours. Leading manufacturers of printing
machines, among them OMSO SpA, Italy, are convinced by the performance
of RUCO’s high-quality products and recommend them wherever secure
print processes, brilliant print results and product safety are in focus. RUCO
is also a leading supplier of low-migration inks, used especially in delicate
applications such as the food industry and the baby bottle sector.
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“Another important innovation is that of digital
printing. This is a completely new technology for us,
which we will offer alongside our existing printing
processes. It offers real advantages with regard
to the printing of small batches, with the added
benefit of allowing the customer to choose from a
range of decorative patterns stored in the memory.”
Phoseon Technology
OMSO SpA utilizes Phoseon Technology’s UV LED light sources for
direct screen printing on cylindrical plastic and glass containers. Together,
OMSO and Phoseon bring the inherent advantages of UV LED curing to
the world of packaging. UV LED technology offers advanced capabilities,
operating economics and environmental advantages. UV LED light
sources contribute to an energy saving of over 50% for OMSO customers.
Phoseon’s UV LED technology offers consistent stability and long life time
which are both fundamental in low migration printing processes. Now that
UV LED low migration inks are available, OMSO has the ability to offer a
complete process solution.
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The other companies within the group are not involved in production. First of all,
there is OMSO North America, which serves the US and Canadian markets, commercialising the OMSO products and offering assistance. It also carries out overhauling and
repairs. “The reason for establishing a branch in this geographical region was to have a
solid presence in one of the most interesting markets and thus be able to offer service and
assistance according to local expectations. Similarly, OMSO Germany and OMSO France
are solely engaged in commercial activities and service.”
Always at the leading edge
“Ours is a niche activity area, as we compete with alternative solutions such as labels, sleeves
and in-mould labelling. For this reason we have to be very flexible and, in order to remain
in our position of prominence, we regularly invest in R&D (approximately 5 per cent of
our annual turnover). Thanks to our R&D department, staffed by five engineers, we have
managed to develop our Servo platform, which has allowed us to develop our four newest
machines. This means we will be at the leading edge for a number of years. Moreover, we
hold several operational patents, developed through the work of our R&D department.”
The market segments served by the company are food (including beverages), cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Sometimes it also supplies other industries, but not on a regular
basis. “I think that at least in the medium-range future these segments will remain our
main outlets. It is always hard to predict what might happen in the long-term.”
Geographically Europe, with its 40 per cent share of turnover, is a very important
market (Italy only generates 5 per cent), although exports to other parts of the world are
even more significant. At the European level Germany and France play an important role.
Russia is also significant. Important markets in other continents are Malaysia, Singapore,
the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Japan and China. The company also commercialises its
products in many other countries, including South America, the Middle East and Turkey.
“Again, it is hard to predict what the future will hold from a geographical point of view,
but certainly I expect good opportunities in Africa, in countries such as South Africa, Nigeria and the Ivory Coast. We used to have an extremely good response in North Africa,
but unfortunately at the moment this is no longer the case owing to the political instability affecting the area. I hope that soon things might settle, bringing back opportunities for
the future.
“Future growth could only take the form of acquisitions, as the market is close to saturation and does not offer further potential for expansion. The only way to grow is to gain the
market share of other companies. What appears on the horizon is quite challenging. The
only way of surviving and growing is innovation: we have to be able to offer the market
what it demands. We have to fulfil the demands and often anticipate the requests of the
marketing departments of large organisations. Being able to do so requires a great amount
of mental flexibility, in order to be able to accept these requests regardless of how challenging they might be. Often large companies demand complex and sometimes striking solutions for their products, so taking on their projects can be risky, but it is absolutely necessary.
“Our suppliers are very important to us and I would like to mention a few of them in
particular: Sonzogni, UViTerno, Ilvet and Technai. Sonzogni is an Italian company which
supplies us with CAM drive systems, which are then incorporated in our machines;
Uviterno is a Swiss supplier from whom we purchase UV drying systems and Italy-based
Ilvet is a supplier of hot air ovens. Technai is an Italian from whom we purchase torque
drive technology.” Visit: www.omso.it
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