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Top players in UV and LED unite to form the world’s largest provider of energy-efficient curing solutions

Two major players in the UV curing systems industry, Air Motion Systems, Inc. (AMS) and Baldwin Technology Company, Inc., are merging their expertise to create the premier provider of UV and LED curing technology across the globe.

Baldwin, the world leader in highly reactive UV, LED UV and IR drying systems, has acquired Air Motion Systems, the world’s leading provider of LED UV curing technology for the graphic arts industry, expanding its position as the number one customer choice within the market.  The new entity of Baldwin, part of the $2+ billion Barry-Wehmiller family of companies, will rebrand as AMS SPECTRAL UV and combine AMS with Baldwin’s UV division. AMS SPECTRAL UV locations will continue to grow their operations in River Falls, Wisconsin; Easton, Pennsylvania; and Slough, U.K. 

“This acquisition marks the beginning of a new era in providing high-performance solutions for the UV industry,” said AMS SPECTRAL UV President Steve Metcalf. “We’re bringing the top industry minds, technology and experience together to tap an unprecedented opportunity in LED and UV, and to serve an ever-widening range of markets and applications.”

The AMS LED UV product portfolio has become the de-facto standard for LED curing in sheetfed offset printing and flexo packaging, with an installed base nearly 10 times that of its nearest competitor. Complementing this technology, Baldwin’s UV division has vast experience in highly reactive UV curing and numerous LED applications outside of traditional print markets. Further, the new curing-technology entity will leverage a massive base of experience serving OEM and industrial markets.

“What AMS SPECTRAL UV will provide customers is a doubling of research and development, engineering, manufacturing capacity and service to meet their growing needs in the market,” said Pat Keogh, one of the commercial leaders of AMS SPECTRAL UV. “We are proud to continue to offer innovative solutions in a new world being driven by the rapid advancement in UV and LED curing technologies.”

According to market intelligence provider Yole Development, the total value of the UV LED market worldwide is projected to grow to US$1 billion-plus in the next five years. AMS SPECTRAL UV aims to capture a large share of the anticipated market by leveraging the scale and resources of Baldwin which, through its global footprint, supplies process-automation equipment and related consumables, parts and services for the print, film, corrugated, textile and paper and packaging industries.

“The establishment of AMS SPECTRAL UV strengthens our ability to provide value to our existing customers while remaining responsive to emerging market opportunities,” said Brent Becker, CEO of Baldwin.  “This exciting investment underscores our commitment to a strategy that blends organic and acquisition growth to enhance our global footprint and the technology we can deliver to our customers.”

ABOUT BALDWIN TECHNOLOGY COMPANY, INC.

Baldwin Technology Company Inc. is a leading global manufacturer and supplier of process-automation equipment and related consumables for the printing, packaging and other industrial segments, including technical textiles, chip and fiberboard, and film extrusion. Through our global footprint, Baldwin offers our customers a broad range of market-leading technologies, products and systems that enhance the quality of industrial-produced products, with a focus on improving the economic and environmental efficiency of the production process. As a total solutions provider, Baldwin not only offers new equipment to our customers, but also dedicates extensive resources to maintaining and servicing existing equipment. Baldwin is privately owned by Forsyth Capital Investors, a Barry-Wehmiller Group company. For more, go to baldwintech.com.

ABOUT BARRY-WEHMILLER

Barry-Wehmiller is a diversified global supplier of engineering consulting and manufacturing technology for the packaging, corrugating, sheeting and paper converting industries. By blending people-centric leadership with disciplined operational strategies and purpose-driven growth, Barry-Wehmiller has become a $2+ billion organization with 11,000-plus team members united by a common belief:  to use the power of business to build a better world. CEO Bob Chapman shares the story of the company’s transformation in his new book, Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family. To learn more, go to barrywehmiller.com

Baldwin will showcase its new portfolio of optimized LED UV curing, IR-drying and automatic cleaning systems, specifically designed for the US Flexo industry, at SuperCorr in Orlando, October 17th - 20th. With 40 years of experience and many thousands of systems installed worldwide, Baldwin is considered a leading global supplier of process automation equipment.

Baldwin’s Flexo portfolio offers these systems that can be installed separately or as a complete system:

LED curing uses 50% less power
The UVed LED UV technology represents the latest in solid state LED curing technology and offers over 50% reduction in power consumption in an ultra-compact UV lamphead. Lightweight, it is designed for the requirements of corrugated LED printing with instant ON/OFF, minimal heat, zero ozone and width switching.
Optimized IR-drying enhances color definition

The FlexoDry2 dryer is specifically developed for corrugated Flexo printing presses, reducing energy consumption by up to 30% over traditional IR dryers, with the use of patented Diamond IR lamps. The dramatically-improved drying capability enhances color definition and reduces or eliminates marking, while allowing full-speed printing. The system offers an integrated hot air knife with temperature control, which provides better surface drying. The FlexoDry2 comes with an integrated light curtain as standard and an optional Camera Vision System. Multiple light beams increase lamp head coverage and improve safety through the use of linear transmitters.

Automated cleaning enhances print quality and improves worker safety
The Flexo Cleaner Brush enhances print quality by removing hickies and/or cleaning and drying the printing plates within three to four minutes, offering more uptime which leads to higher press output and a cleaner environment. Hickey picker cleaning removes fibers, debris and fine layers of ink. No manual cleaning or skin contact with wash agents reduce work related injuries. Plate cleaning is completed without de-coupling the press, improving operator safety. The Flexo Cleaner Brush system is designed to completely eliminate substrate fiber accumulation, to avoid negative impact on the print image quality.

The Flexo Clean Pick system consists of a traversing cloth wash head that picks up hickies and fibers from the Flexo plates during printing. Different cleaning modes available are spot cleaning, constant cleaning or intensive cleaning. No manual cleaning or skin contact with wash agents reduce work-related injuries. With a dry cloth, the system lightly touches the plate and removes hickies without the need to stop the press, enhancing quality and productivity without creating waste. With a wetted cloth, the system can perform an even deeper cleaning of the plates if required.

“We are excited to offer our new, advanced Flexo printing portfolio to the US Flexo market. The feedback from our European customers has been overwhelming as our products continue to improve their production performance and print quality, unlocking new potential for their business,” said Peter Hultberg, Baldwin Chief Commercial Officer.

“The entire Baldwin equipment project on my new corrugated Flexo press was executed without any issues and the performance has exceeded my expectations, particularly with respect to energy consumption,” commented Niall Diamond, Production Manager at Diamond Corrugated, who purchased the complete Flexo system in 2016 to enhance production.

About Baldwin Technology, Inc.
Baldwin Technology Company, Inc. is a leading global supplier of process automation equipment and related consumables for the printing, packaging and other industrial segments, e.g. technical textiles, chip and fiberboard, film extrusion and many more. Baldwin offers its customers a broad range of market-leading technologies, products and systems that enhance the quality of industrial produced products with focus on improving the economic and environmental efficiency of the production process. Baldwin is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. With 600 team members, the company has operations strategically located in 9 countries, on 14 sites, all around the globe to support product distribution, global sales and service infrastructure. For more information, visit www.baldwintech.com.