Benson Group People

March 2009

Steve Bunkle - Group Ink Manager

Steve joined Benson Group in January 2007 having worked for 19 years for Sun Chemical (formerly Coates Lorilleux) in a number of roles, starting as a quality control technician, moving in Technical Service and for his last five years at the company, Technical Manager.

One of his first projects for the group was identifying and specifying a UV ink system to perform on the Heidelberg 105XL press installed late 2007. This involved major dialogue with the group's ink-supplier, Sun Chemical; a number of press trials at Heidelberg; and different ink formulations to achieve the consistent running speeds of 18,000 impressions per hour that the press is capable of. From the work on this press, a new colour matching guide for the group was developed, enabling the pressroom to ensure that it has the strongest and best-running ink formulation for any given job on any press. There was also the added challenge of ensuring the inks would run alcohol free on the 105XL.

His role at Benson Group includes dealing with suppliers of press consumables across the group, helping to ensure that the company has the best possible products for the printing process. This includes such items as printing blankets, rollers, inks, varnishes, and chemistry.

Large projects recently completed have included the implementation of Valetech ink dispensers at PDG and Medica Packaging, both housed within newly constructed inkrooms to maximise the quality of in-house ink mixing. These systems provide for much greater flexibility and, more importantly, consistency of ink mixes. The new systems match the one already in use at Benson Box at Bardon.

Day-to-day, Steve focuses on "best practise" in the inkroom to deliver superior product and service to the pressroom. This involves bench-marking exercises with a number of suppliers, which also helps to ensure that the inkroom has the best tools for the job, and changing the way the inkroom performs, especially in areas of stock control and efficiency.

The role includes providing support for the sales team in terms of customer documents and enquiries, including the use of special colours, vegetable-oil based inks, and special varnish finishes. Environmental issues are also a "hot topic" at this point in time.

Steve divides his time between the four group sites. His current focus is on harmonising the press chemistry across the two North-East sites to provide increased productivity on the Komori S40 presses running at these facilities, with less press waste generated through consistent print quality.