Case Study: Dyna-SLICK™ Silicone Treatment for GILL Studios Enhances Lamination Production by 25%

Download the GILL Studios Case Study

 

The Challenge for Gill Studios

Simply put, adhesive build up. Processing heat-sealed laminated 30 mil cards using heated silicone rubber rollers running at 280 °F and 30 psi of pressure isn’t a high-speed process in the first place.

On a run like this, it was not unusual for the line to stop 2 – 3 x’s per shift to remove the adhesive buildup. Even if limited to 2x’s a shift, that still meant losing a full day of production over the course of a week. So, the company needed to find a way to mitigate the sticky production impact of adhesive buildup on their silicone rubber rollers.

Steve Stickney, Plant Manager at GILL reached out to Dyna-Tek to see if we could alleviate the adhesive buildup occurring on the silicone rollers for their laminating line; an Advanced Greig Laminator. 

The problem can be very costly. Standard silicone rollers rapidly accumulated baked-on adhesive from the laminate. Prior to this run, operators were forced to shut down the machine every 2–3 hours, let the rollers cool, and scrape off the buildup, before restarting production. Not only was this a production throughput issue, but if not carefully managed, it leads to increased scrap rates, excessive wear on the rollers (due to the need for sharp tools to remove the adhesives), and a source of frustration for the production team.

BEFORE --- Untreated roller with typical adhesive build up 

AFTER — Dyna-SLICK™ Silicone Treatment after 6 months with cleaning needed only once a week or less.

The Solution

With the confidence of earlier tests, GILL scheduled a performance trial test run for 250,000, 30-mil laminated pieces. Two newly resurfaced silicone rubber rollers were then sent to Dyna-Tek to be receive the Dyna-SLICK™ Silicone Treatment.

NOTE: Unlike some of Dyna-Tek’s other products that can be applied by your team at your facility in a DIY manner, the complexities of applying coatings to silicone rubber require a more controlled application process and were applied at Dyna-Tek.

The result to your roller is a Dyna-SLICK™ Silicone Treatment that chemically bonds to the silicone and is engineered to address the three biggest pain points of silicone rollers: 
1. Adhesive buildup 
2. Heat buildup 
3. Mitigated much of the static build up inherent to silicone rubber rollers

Customer Testimonial

“We were spending almost as much time removing adhesive from the heated rollers as we were actually producing orders. After Dyna-Tek treated our AGL rollers we could run for days without a clean-up! We have found a number of small projects around the plant where the Dyna-Tek product has solved similar issues, and we are able to apply the product ourselves. Great products!” 
— Steve Stickney, Plant Manager, GILL Studios

Additional Customer Feedback

The Dyna-SLICK™ Silicone Treatment delivered significant improvements:

  • Downtime dramatically reduced: Cleaning frequency dropped from every 2–3 hours to once a week or longer — eliminating all unscheduled stoppages.
  • Operating life of the rollers more than doubled, with a 50% reduction in resurfacing costs. 
  • No more production stoppages due to heat buildup in the rollers: Due to the thermal dissipation properties of Dyna-SLICK™ Silicone Treatment the heat retainage by the silicone rubber was negated, allowed the machine to maintain a consistent operating temperature through entire shifts.
  • Static buildup significantly mitigated: The non-conductive nature of Dyna-SLICK™ Silicone Treatment reduced dust and particle attraction to the roller surface.
  • Easier maintenance: Even after a full week of continuous operation, any residual adhesive that had begun to build up was easily wiped away with less aggressive pressure and tools. This not only reduces maintenance time, but the accelerated wear and tear of the roller surfaces due to the more aggressive techniques being eliminated, doubled their operating life and reducing the resurfacing and shipping costs by more than 50%.
  • ROI on the cost of the Dyna-SLICK™ Silicone Treatment: Depending upon how your company calculates the costs of operational overhead, arguably Dyna-SLICK™ Silicone Treatment paid for itself the first day of production.
  • Quality gains: Fewer defects, lower scrap rates, and more consistent lamination pressure across every run.

More About GILL Studios

Since its inception 92 years ago, GILL Studios https://www.gill-line.com/info/about_us, has always been innovative. Its founder, Forest Gill, was credited with being the inventor of the Bumper Sticker in 1934. That culture of innovation continues today not only in their products, but also their focus for continuous improvements on the plant floor as well. 

Let's Talk!

Interested in knowing how Dyna-Tek products can boost the production, quality and profitability of your operations? Dyna-Tek offers more than just Dyna-SLICK™ Silicone Treatment. For other productivity enhancing products for your printing, die cutting and related processes, visit us at www.DynaTekDirect.com, or call us at 816-381-9699 and ask for “Silicone Treatment” Tech Support.

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