Waste Minimization - An Integrated Approach

This paper depicts the author's belief that a waste minimization program for any lithographic printing plant ought to be devised not from a traditional point of view, i.e., on the waste material generated only, such as papers, solvents, and inks. Instead, the author suggests an integrated approach, i.e., not just focusing on the waste materials. In other words, it needs to include all facets of the operation that could contribute to waste, such as manpower, press runtime, job reruns, film and plate remakes, make-ready time, press operator training, and many others. The author, based on his personal experience in over 100 printing plants, introduces a new concept, chained-blownup effect on waste generation in a typical lithographic printing plant. The recommendation to implement an integrated waste minimization program is that the management needs to carefully evaluate each and every step of all operations and articulately analyze how each step can be streamlined so that all wastes are minimized and, henceforth, a higher profit margin can be realized.