Sydney-based Offset Alpine Printing, which has consistently grown its business in recent years, upgraded its facility not just to ensure production but also to maintain a safe and clean working environment for its employees.
Offset Alpine’s Engineering Manager, Mr Keith Lee, says the new waste paper extraction system, installed by Donaldson Australasia, replaced the outdated original system which had not been performing correctly since day one and was inefficient and troublesome with the increasing workload.
“The continued health and safety of our staff and visitors to our plant is of prime concern to OAP management. To run a state of the art operation like Offset Alpine Printing you require more than just an average waste extraction system. Our entire production facility relies heavily on this system to not only allow maximum production speeds across the wide range of machinery serviced but to remove all trim waste effectively and efficiently and to collect it in such a manner that it is ready for pickup by our paper recycler.
With the plant in operation 24/7 we needed a super reliable waste control system and the Donaldson system has proven to be just that. The trim waste is separated from the main airflow via screens, which allows the waste paper to fall, via rotary valves into automatic compactors. A Dalamatic dust collector separates the dust form the waste stream and this is then sent to a briquette press which compacts the dust into solid 80mm x 100mm briquettes making this messy and potentially hazardous material much safer to handle for recycling or disposal ” said Mr Lee.
The system comprises a dual separator AMSP35, dual rotary valve RV750, two paper trim fans (1 x 75kW, 1 x 30kW), Dalamatic DLM 3/5/15 dust collector and a 55 kW clean air fan.
The system has been designed with an extra 30% capacity for growth and future additions to the shop floor. It easily copes with the output from this high performance printing plant, yet still has capacity to allow flexibility with regard to future equipment acquisitions.
Mr. Lee notes, “With the ever-increasing pressures in this very competitive industry, it was clear the old system wouldn’t be able to cope with the volumes, or to perform reliably long term. The new Donaldson system allows our production crews to concentrate on what they do best, producing quality magazines. The waste can look after its self”
“The entire system has been replaced, including the ducting. The new separator and dust collection system contains a myriad of sensors and automatic controls that ensure reliable operation and eliminate any potential stoppages that could interrupt production”
“The Donaldson system is light years ahead of what we had before- there is no comparison”, says Mr. Lee. “Our factory could not operate to the same high level without it”.
