Although there is no exact formula for preventing every difficulty in the press room, there are ways to sharply reduce or completely avoid many problems. Pamarco helps its customers make their press room as successful as possible by recommending preventative maintenance programs that are designed to help them do just that: reduce or avoid problems. One of the ways Pamarco has done this is through a printable outline provided to customers with a step-by-step guide to best practices. This article is intended to address that outline in a new format, to discuss the advantages preventative maintenance can afford your company, and to cover some additional information about cleaning.

Before we dive into suggestions and steps that are part of Pamarco’s preventative maintenance program, it seems helpful to understand the reasoning behind preventative maintenance in the printing industry. An everyday analogy that might help us relate is to think of flossing versus going to the dentist. We don’t have to go to the dentist every day, and while it’s important to make those deep cleaning visits consistently, it’s very important to be flossing our teeth in between to avoid difficult cleanings and more serious complications. Rolls are the same way; if they aren’t cleaned deeply from time to time, they will end up plugged and may cause loss of color or even rejected materials.

Now that we’ve established why it’s important, let’s talk about what preventative maintenance involves. The upkeep program that Pamarco recommends has three parts: daily, weekly, and quarterly or periodic. The daily portion is simple: use a good cleaner to circulate through the press wash-up system. This is quick and effective on press cleaning that does not require much man power or time, but it cleans the rolls on a daily basis. It is important to pause here for a moment and mention that Pamarco sells a lot of cleaners, but there are many other choices out there. The best cleaner is the one that’s being used, but be careful because many are effective but unsafe. Wherever you get your cleaner from, the pH should be no higher than ten.