Considerations for selecting the right doctor blade: An Interview with the CEO of Flexo Concepts

July 7, 2022 Over the years the print industry has continued to innovate with the rise of digital printing, new ink systems and advances in packaging. With all of these printing innovations come additional considerations for pressroom operators, including the many factors involved in choosing a doctor blade. To help navigate the blade selection process we sat down with Kevin McLaughlin, doctor blade expert and CEO of Flexo Concepts. What do you see as some of the most discussed topics in pressrooms today? Certainly, the answer to that question has changed over the years. Early in my career, there were a lot of conversations around print quality, extended gamut printing and how to improve process printing. Today the conversations we have the most with customers are really wrapped around labor availability, the inexperience of the labor available in the pressroom and safety. In many ways, inexperienced labor and safety are related. If you have younger or more inexperienced operators safety becomes a bigger issue. What issues do you see as we push presses faster that we would need to address with a doctor blade system? What are some key considerations for operators when running presses at high speeds?