GSE launches extended life programme to help futureproof ink dispensing investments

Packaging Solutions

GSE has launched its new extended life programme, a lifecycle support initiative designed to help label and packaging converters maximise the long term value of their ink dispensing equipment for flexo, gravure and screen applications, through refurbishment, upgrades, retrofits and preventative maintenance.

The programme brings together a range of existing and newly developed services under one structured offering, enabling GSE customers to extend equipment lifetime, optimise performance, reduce CO2 impact and adapt their systems to changing operational and sustainability requirements.

The initiative reflects the growing need from converters and ink manufacturers for longer equipment lifecycles, improved resource efficiency and greater operational resilience, amid increasing sustainability pressures, rising material costs and heightened supply chain insecurity resulting from geopolitical tensions.

Maarten Hummelen, marketing director, GSE Dispensing, commented: ‘Converters are under pressure from many directions – sustainability targets, cost control, shorter lead times and supply chain volatility that affects availability of critical resources. The extended life programme is about helping customers protect and improve the value of the equipment they already have, while reducing environmental impact and maintaining high operational performance.’

The programme is tailored specifically to customer applications and business needs, and may include things such as refurbishment and recalibration, preventative maintenance, retrofit upgrades, software updates and extensions, energy efficiency improvements, and more.

Depending on the application and installed configuration, the programme enables GSE dispensing and software systems to evolve alongside changing production requirements, including transitions between ink types, energy sources, workflow upgrades and new sustainability objectives.

The launch builds on GSE’s long standing modular engineering philosophy, which enables its Colorsat dispensing systems to be upgraded and adapted throughout their operational life, rather than be fully replaced. This approach also applies to the company’s Ink manager suite of optional software programs for applications such as inventory control, traceability and reporting that may be retrospectively added. The company estimates that more than 300 GSE dispensing systems worldwide have remained in operation for over 20 years.

‘Innovation is not only about developing new equipment,’ said Maarten. ‘It is also about continuously improving installed systems, so they remain efficient, reliable and fit for the future. With modular design principles, many components can continue performing for decades while controls, software and selected parts can be upgraded as requirements evolve.’

GSE says the programme also supports customers seeking to reduce the environmental impact associated with manufacturing and replacing industrial equipment. By extending useful equipment lifetime, the embodied environmental impact of manufacturing can be distributed over many more years of productive use, while reducing demand for new materials and components.

The initiative forms part of GSE’s broader focus on circularity and sustainable manufacturing, which the company has increasingly explored through remanufacturing initiatives in the Netherlands.

As part of the wider ‘extended life’ approach, GSE is also developing its ‘next life’ programme for selected dispensing systems. The initiative involves professionally refurbishing and reintroducing suitable systems to the market following full restoration, testing and performance validation.

According to GSE, refurbishment can provide a commercially attractive alternative to new equipment investment while significantly reducing material usage and manufacturing impact.

The programme is intended not only to support sustainability goals, but also to reduce operational risk for converters facing increasing uncertainty around raw materials, electronics availability and industrial supply chains.

‘More companies are recognising that sustainability and operational resilience go hand in hand,’ Maarten said. ‘This underscores the importance of a long term approach to investing in ink logistics: extending the life of high quality industrial equipment is often the smartest route environmentally, operationally and economically.’

The new programme will be highlighted during the Day of Remanufacturing – an event organised by the Dutch government to encourage circularity in manufacturing. At the event, to be held in Naarden, The Netherlands, on 18 June, the company will discuss lifecycle optimisation and circular approaches to ink logistics equipment.