At GraphExpo we had a chance to talk to CEO and Founder Tony Michiels from Argos Solutions – and that was great. First of all, he is a very nice guy, but the flat coater he presented at GraphExpo was also really cool. Using LED-UV reduces not only energy consumption, but also reduce the amount of UV-Varnish needed for the jobs – and that leads to lower production cost and faster return on investment. Cool – but see for your self!

0:08    Argos Solutions is a company located in Belgium. They produce machines for web cleaning, flat coating and selective coating. We paid a visit to their booth and asked them some questions.

0:16    This is L380 UV coater with a cold UV lamp system, meaning we don’t stress any paper with heat on the paper. So, the IR, what is reflected by open lamp system, we don’t have this here. Papers coming out with maximum twenty-five degrees temper heat on it coming from the lamp. A very short curing time means that you can process the paper directly after coating. Coating means we put a glass layer on it, on the sheet, or we can do a soft touch layer on it or whatever kind of coatings you can find in the market we can transfer.

0:54    What is the advantage for the owner of the machine?

0:58    The owner of the equipment, they see a machine here, it has a low cost per page. Where others are putting 15 to 16 grams per square meters, we only put 2 to 3 grams on it. So, it means that the turn back and the pay back of the machine is going very, very, very fast.

1:13    What makes it so economical and cost effective?

1:18    First of all, the quality the machine has been made. Also, the quality of the rollers we are using, and of course, the lamp system. It’s a complete enclosed cool lamp system, PLC-driven, which makes that to be our cooling always on the good wavelength. We don’t have peaks in power. Nothing. When the machine, by example, doesn’t see a sheet for a minute, it will go in sleep mode, power off, with seventy percent soon-to-see a sheet. Within two milliseconds, we go to a hundred percent of the machine runs directly like it has to be in full production.

1:50    What formats does the machine you are presenting here support?

1:53    This is SRI three size, but we can go up to two lengths depending on how you fit up to one meter, if you want. Even to two meters, you just need to be bring it in like it has to be. This is the smallest. This is our junior, but we go up to the B2 size formats.

2:08    Who is your typical customer for a product like this?

2:11    We got US customers from the small one to the big ones. Most of them are photobook printers or business card, postcards. Some of them, I cannot mention the names, but you get the big guys having this machine, let’s say worldwide.

2:25    Is that because this machine has so many advantages over competitors?

2:29    This is the latest generation coater you can see, even if this model, the basic of it is existing for the last five years, it is the most innovating technology you can find in UV coating.

2:41    As I know, you also make another product which is a spot coater?

2:45    This is a spot coater where you see that we can do via inkjet system, we can add coating on places where we need them ñ like on logos, like on machines, like on business cards, whatever and however you like it. The good thing on it is we have a very unique software program on it, so we don’t need any camera system to register. It will read the image, it will reposition the print verses, and we will print in the good way without adding marks.

3:16    So in summary, you make high quality products that add value to the printers that invest in your equipment?

3:20    In an efficient way and in the most cheapest way to do it. Cheap way, not meaning by low quality, but lowest price.

3:29    Is it the first time you exhibit at Graph Expo?

3:33    We have been there in Chicago two times, I think. Yes. Two times.

3:37    And how has the show been so far?

3:41    Let’s say slow compared to Chicago. That’s for sure, but the people we have seen are very interesting contacts. That’s for sure.

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