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Daetwyler R&D Corp

Daetwyler R&D Corp manufactures electromechanical engraving machines, gravure printing presses, specialized cylinders, and software. Primary markets are the packaging gravure printing market and the printed electronics market. The company, located in Dayton, Ohio USA since 1980, is a member of the Heliograph Holding GmBH.

History

In 1978, ex-Navy engineer Lester W. Buechler^[1], retired from Systems Research Labs and Wright Patterson Air Force Base, formed Ohio Electronic Engravers (OEE) to manufacture the B600, the electromechanical engraver he designed for the gravure packaging industry. At the time, other manufacturers of electronic engraving machines included the Dr. Ing. Hell Co. and Staub in Germany. In the mid-90's, Max Dätwyler AG of Switzerland began selling engravers.

1983 saw the introduction of OEE's B700 engraver-scanner. These early devices were analog: a film with the image data placed on the drum was scanned, converted to digital data for easier manipulation, and was engraved on the cylinder nearly simultaneously. The company shipped engravers worldwide.

In the mid-1980's, graphic arts began the move to digital, then called filmless engraving, or direct digital systems. Engravers without the scanner attached were developed. OEE developed [prepress] software to accept digital image data to be engraved, beginning with CT2T, Handshake and Tiff, and moving to PostScript and PDF. The company grew in size and developed new products, such as the M800 series of engravers, which were designed to fit into automated engraving lines. The 300th engraver shipped in 1993. The GAA named Lester Buechler Gravure Person of the Year in 1997.^[2] The company released the Collage Layout System for packaging gravure cylinder layout in 1998.

In 2000, Max Daetwyler Company (MDC) acquired the assets of Ohio Electronic Engravers. ^[3] The Dayton, Ohio office continued to design and manufacture engravers, now called Gravostar engravers, based on the OEE technology. Research and development for electromechanical engravers and the diamond cutting tool engrave head continued in MDC-Dayton.^[4]

In 2008, the Dayton office was incorporated as Daetwyler R&D Corp (DR&D), an independent subsidiary.^[5] DR&D was awarded the GAA Golden Cylinder Award for the Gravostar 857 in 2008.^[6]

In January 2009, Max Daetwyler and Hell Gravure Systems formed a joint venture, combining their companies into the Heliograph Holding GmBH.^[7] Daetwyler R&D Corp in Dayton, Ohio continued design and manufacturing of engravers, and moved further into the printed electronics market, including developing a press for gravure printed electronics, the AccuPress printing system. Daetwyler R&D formed a partnership for PE development with Western Michigan University's Center for the Advancement of Printed Electronics. ^[8]

Products

The company has manufactured electromechanical engraving machines since 1980, primarily for the packaging market: the B600, B700, M800, and Gravostar series of engravers. One engraver, the M900, was aimed at the publication market, but was discontinued in 2003.

The engrave heads are diamond-cutting tools accurate to sub-micron level, are capable of cutting cells 90 µm deep. Special image processing and hardware changes to the head, called tranScribe, enable cutting cells as small as 5 µm, which are needed by specialized markets, such as printed electronics.

The company also designs software for creating layouts to be engraved, called Collage Layout Software.

In 2009, the company began manufacturing AccuPress gravure printing presses for printed electronics lab work and production.

Bibliography

Gravure: Process and Technology. ISBN-10: 1880290022, ISBN-13: 978-1880290026

Pocket Guide to Digital Prepress Frank Romano. ISBN-10: 0827371985, ISBN-13: 978-0827371989

Pocket Pal: A Graphic Arts Production Handbook. ISBN 0-9772716-1-7

References

^ http://www.daytoninnovationlegacy.org/giants/buechler_lester_sep1993.pdf
^ http://www.gaa.org/cylinder-society-members
^ "MDC Daetwyler and Ohio form alliance." The Seybold Report on Publishing Systems. 2000. Retrieved July 01, 2010 from accessmylibrary: http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-61862119/mdc-daetwyler-and-ohio.html
^ A comparative analysis of the latest electromechanical processes by Daetwyler and Hell Gravure Systems
^ http://www.daetwyler-rd.com/contact/news/announcing.html
^ http://whattheythink.com/news/index.cfm?id=1205
^ http://www.labelandnarrowweb.com/news/2009/02/03/joint_venture_announced_by_gravure_suppliers
^ http://www.printedelectronicsnow.com/articles/2009/12/wpu-cape