Optimisation of Printing Processes using Dynamic Analysis

The highly complex nature of printing with many parameters, which affect the press performance and quality of the finished product requires the use of statistical design of experiments to efficiently investigate the process. Orthogonal arrays have been successfully applied to many printing processes. These commonly address the quality characteristic as a single discrete variable. However, the reproduction of the graphic image requires many such quality characteristics, such as tone gain, colour and image distortion, to be simultaneously controlled. This paper presents a new and unique approach to the analysis of printing experiments using algorithms derived from dynamic analysis to simultaneously optimise multiple quality characteristics. The paper explains the background theory and the detailed methodology. The benefits of this approach are illustrated using data derived from an 8-parameter, 3 level investigation in screen-printing (18 run orthogonal array test equivalent to a 4374 run full-factorial experiment). This technique can be applied to any printing or coating application.