FAG Artigrafiche invests in Amsky Aurora T1400+

Founded in 1969, FAG Artigrafiche is now a solid and well-established industrial company specialising in the design and production of packaging and displays made from laminated corrugated cardboard with offset printing. Part of Gruppo Afes Group, the company operates two production facilities, located in Dogliani (Cuneo) and Canneto sull’Oglio (Mantua), supporting its continued growth and increasing production capacity.

FAG Artigrafiche’s priority was to overcome a limitation that had become structural. After 20 years of operation, the existing CTP system had reached the end of its lifecycle and was causing increasingly frequent issues, including machine downtime, recurring maintenance and growing instability within the prepress process.

In a production environment characterised by high volumes and fluctuating peaks in demand, these inefficiencies were more than a mere slowdown: they had become a genuine constraint on operational continuity and work quality. The company therefore needed more than a simple machine replacement. It required a technology capable of ensuring long-term reliability, operational stability and compliance with the quality standards demanded by the industry.

The decision to innovate was guided by a clear principle: to evolve without disrupting established processes.

The company was looking for a technology that would retain the strengths of the previous system, particularly the reliability of the laser head, while delivering better performance, automation and operational continuity. An additional requirement concerned integration within a production environment subject to specific space constraints. The challenge was not simply to install a new machine under ideal conditions, but to adapt the solution to the actual characteristics of the department by optimising the layout and workflows while maintaining compatibility with existing materials and suppliers.

Following a thorough assessment, FAG Artigrafiche selected GMDE for the quality of its solutions and its ability to support companies throughout their entire technological evolution with specialist expertise.

The AMSKY-GMDE proposal resulted in the installation of the Amsky Aurora T1400+ CTP system, a solution designed to deliver greater stability, precision and operational continuity.

At the heart of the technology is an external drum system that ensures extremely accurate registration and consistently high imaging quality over time. SquareDot technology was particularly appreciated during the evaluation process, as it demonstrated highly precise energy management and stable long-term performance.

With productivity of up to 19 plates per hour, workloads can be managed more smoothly and production planning becomes more reliable, reducing the uncertainty typically associated with lower-performing systems. The Amsky Aurora T1400+ CTP system also stands out for its flexibility, as it can handle large formats and a wide range of production requirements while maintaining excellent imaging quality, with variable resolutions of up to 10,000 dpi.

From an operational perspective, the ability to combine manual and automatic loading through an autoloader reduces the need for operator intervention, improves overall process efficiency and makes the workflow smoother and easier to control.

From the preliminary analysis to the selection of the solution, the project was developed through direct collaboration, supported by on-site assessments, practical tests and shared planning. The objective was to transform a replacement requirement into an opportunity for technological evolution, generating tangible improvements in efficiency, stability and the overall management of the prepress process.

To support this approach, GMDE and AMSKY made their technical expertise available and involved personnel from the manufacturer’s headquarters to provide direct supervision. This involvement reflects the level of attention devoted to the project, with every aspect carefully assessed to ensure close alignment between the machine configuration and the company’s actual production requirements.

The implementation was completed quickly and effectively, with the aim of optimising overall performance while maintaining a balance between operational management and cost sustainability, ensuring a smooth transition to the new system.

The introduction of the new CTP system did not change the nominal speed of the process, but it had a decisive impact on operational continuity. Productivity has increased significantly because the machine can now operate consistently at 100% of its capacity, without the frequent downtime that affected the previous system.

In a production environment such as FAG Artigrafiche’s, where long print runs alternate with days involving numerous job start-ups, this represents a substantial change. The company no longer needs to schedule work significantly in advance to compensate for potential stoppages and can instead operate in line with actual production times.

The daily operating experience has also improved considerably. The CTP system is always available, can remain continuously operational and delivers consistent performance. Once a file has been submitted, the integrated and quiet system operates autonomously without requiring constant intervention. Operators can therefore focus on other activities without having to monitor the machine continuously.

A further benefit concerns plate quality and reliability, with a direct impact on the entire production process. Problems related to defects, creases or damage, previously also caused by unsuitable handling systems, have been completely eliminated, effectively reducing remakes to zero.

Production has become more linear and predictable, without interruptions caused by anomalies that are difficult to identify. The solution has demonstrated its reliability even during periods of greater operational complexity. Activities that previously placed an exceptional burden on operators can now be managed under normal working conditions, without significant repercussions on work organisation.

In terms of quality, the CTP system has also introduced an automatic control mechanism that further reduces the risk of error. Defective plates are detected and rejected before entering the production cycle, preventing issues during printing. The punching system, in particular, has demonstrated a high level of reliability, eliminating one of the main sources of inefficiency associated with the previous system.

Overall, FAG Artigrafiche’s investment has improved system performance while restoring complete stability and control within the department, thereby reducing work-related stress. This change has had a direct impact on productivity, work quality and the smooth management of the entire process.

Technology alone, however, is not enough. One of the most valuable benefits for the company has been the after-sales technical support. The GMDE team’s rapid response and immediate availability have helped ensure operational continuity, drastically reducing the waiting times the company had previously experienced, which were never less than 48 hours and had a negative impact on productivity.

As Massimo Garatti of FAG Artigrafiche explained:

“The implementation of the CTP system has certainly delivered significant benefits, but what we truly appreciated was the technical support that accompanied the entire process. The GMDE team demonstrated expertise, experience and, above all, genuine passion for their work. They did not simply complete the installation within a reasonable timeframe, but worked alongside us from the initial project analysis through to implementation, taking care of every detail until the system was fully operational.

The speed of their response was what surprised us most positively. Whenever we submitted a request, the technicians acted extremely quickly and demonstrated their ability to respond promptly to our needs. This level of support confirms that we can rely on a solid organisation that enables us to work without interruption. For us, this attention, involvement and focus on customer satisfaction made a real difference and confirmed that GMDE was the right partner.”

Just a few months after installation, the results reported by FAG Artigrafiche demonstrate that value is often generated not only by the technology itself, but also by the way it is designed, adapted and implemented to make it fully operational in a real production environment.