Francesco Valente, head of the digital printing department, shares his professional journey and the evolution of this department. The introduction of the new UV LED flatbed printer has brought significant improvements in terms of quality and flexibility, allowing the company to offer high-level customized products.
Francesco shares the organizational challenges and satisfactions of his work, emphasizing the importance of digital printing in meeting customer needs.
What was your professional journey that led you to work in the digital printing department at MCS and become an operator on UV LED flatbed printers?
My professional story is somewhat unique. I should mention that Alessandro and I were classmates for a time, and we are both passionate about art, graphics and architecture.
After graduating, due to personal difficulties, I could not continue my studies and instead took on manual jobs in factories, gaining experience as a turner, CNC operator, and more. These jobs allowed me to acquire practical skills in production and industrial fields, although not directly related to my current role.
At a certain point, I decided to change direction and resume my passion for graphics. I took courses in computer science, Photoshop, and advertising for about a year, specializing in graphic skills. Then I started sending out resumes to various companies, including MCS. Surprisingly, Alessandro responded? we hadn’t spoken since high school!
He invited me for an interview, explaining that he was looking for a specific figure for the digital printing department, which had been part of the company since 2004. So, in 2008, I joined MCS. The digital printing department was still small, with only two small printers and a limited workload.
Alessandro, who until then had been personally responsible for the department, was no longer able to manage it due to the expansion of the company. After a period of training, I started to work on the printers and department.
Since then, the department has grown continuously, following technological evolution and business needs.
How long have you been working in this department, and how have you experienced the technological evolution over these years?
I have been working in this department since 2008 and have personally witnessed the technological evolution in recent years. In the past, screen printing was widely used for most graphic productions, despite having both advantages and disadvantages.
Over time, changing customer needs and product requirements have led to significant growth in digital printing production. Currently, in terms of volume, we are almost 50% between digital printing and screen-printing processes. The difference is that I can manage multiple machines alone in the digital printing department, while the screen-printing department requires two to three people due to the different methodologies and machinery involved.
My role is not limited to digital printing operations. I am also a graphic designer, as I have to process and lay out the designs received from the technical office to adapt them for print requirements.
This process includes layout adjustments, fine-tuning of print profiles, material optimization, and calculation of print times.
For some products, the process is relatively fast, while for others, especially when customers have specific request such as Pantone or RAL colour references, it can take longer to find the best solutions.
It is a job learned mainly through practical experience, adapting knowledge to specific situations. It is not an easily replaceable role as it requires particular skills which are not taught in school.
Over the years, the department has evolved significantly, moving from basic equipment to increasingly advanced technologies.
The latest major investment in digital printing technology was made this summer, marking a significant step forward for the company.
Compared to previous printing technologies, what advantages have you noticed with the new printer in terms of print quality and execution speed?
In our work, each printing technology has specific characteristics that make it more or less suitable for certain applications.
Our technological setup allows us to optimize production according to different needs, always ensuring the best possible result.
The latest acquired technology has brought significant improvements, especially with UV LED drying technology. Compared to traditional UV systems, UV LED lamps offer numerous advantages: greater energy efficiency, elimination of heating and cooling times, and more effective and uniform ink curing.
Additionally, UV LED lamps have a significantly longer operational life and provide greater production flexibility, allowing better handling of process interruptions for tests or unforeseen issues.
In terms of productivity, the new technology has led to a significant increase in overall efficiency, resulting in greater production capacity and improved process quality, with clear benefits for work organization and resource optimization.
How has the introduction of the new printer affected your daily work approach?
The introduction of the new technology primarily brought improvements in work organization.
From an operational perspective, familiarity with previous systems made the transition easier, allowing me to leverage the new features right away. The most significant change concerns production process management.
The increase in efficiency required a reorganization of day-to-day activities. The increased productivity of the new technology led to a different scheduling of work phases, with optimized times that allow managing larger volumes while maintaining the same quality standards.
The time dedicated to design, calculation, and print tests remains unchanged, as these phases are crucial for ensuring the final product quality.
The real advantage is evident in medium-to-large volume productions, where the efficiency gain is more noticeable.
This required a comprehensive departmental reorganization, but the productivity benefits are tangible.
In your opinion, how has the new technology expanded the company’s creative possibilities and product offerings?
The new technology offers interesting potential in terms of product innovation, thanks to its configurability and versatility. Beyond standard functionalities, the system allows the use of special finishes with transparent inks for unique glossy-matte contrast effects, opening new creative possibilities.
However, the main goal of the investment was to improve production efficiency and overall process quality.
The new technology has expanded our operational capabilities, enabling us to manage larger formats more efficiently.
Have you received feedback from customers about the quality of products made with the new printer, even indirectly?
The market consists of customers with varying needs: some have very specific requirements, such as the need to comply with certain colour standards, while others have less stringent specifications. The new technology has allowed us to further raise our quality standards.
Of course, the final product quality does not depend solely on the technology but also on the professionalism and attention of the operators. The combination of these factors allows us to guarantee consistently high-quality results.
A significant example is the production of black panels with shades and semi-transparent areas for LEDs for one of our important customers, products that we have been producing for several years. The introduction of the new technology has led to a further improvement in quality, confirmed by the absence of any customer feedback.
Are there any other technological innovations you would like to see introduced in this department? How do you see the future evolution of the digital printing department in MCS?
The evolution of the market is difficult to predict, however in the last 10 years it has certainly changed, also due to the inherent flexibility of the digital printing process that allows a high customization of productions.
I am referring for example to highly elaborate graphics, with shades or high number of colours, with chromatic variability and logos within the same lot, or the possibility of sampling without having to build specific installations as for the screen-printing process.
In addition, the variety of products is very high, with demands from the most diverse sectors such as automotive, medical, agricultural, nautical, industrial etc.
The demand for custom electronics containers and irregularly shaped components made in 3D printing is constantly growing, so future printers will need to meet this trend, offering the ability to print on complex surfaces or medium-large objects.
Other aspects may be related to the performance of inks, for example, in terms of adhesion and chemical resistance.
What do you think are the strengths of this department?
The main strength of digital printing is its ability to be customized, superior to screen printing.
We can create complex graphics with shades in a single step, effectively responding to the needs of both consistent productions and small batches for market tests or sampling.
Our technology allows us to manage any graphic file format, guaranteeing maximum flexibility.
We can also handle special requests such as series production with different graphic variants or progressive numbering, offering customers the possibility of tracking individual products, which would be impossible or very complex with screen printing.
The combination of flexibility and customization capabilities, even on small batches, is an important competitive advantage that allows us to better meet our customers’ needs.
In conclusion, what do you find most satisfying about your job?
One of the greatest satisfactions for me is seeing products I helped create used in everyday life. I’ve seen tractors, trucks, and campers with parts produced in our department and even spotted a panel we made in a bar in Milan. These moments remind me of the importance of my work and make me feel part of something bigger.
My satisfaction comes not only from technical precision or product quality but also from knowing our work has a real impact on people’s lives.