The Team

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Night Out for Some Baseball!

  vs.    


On Tuesday, (July 29, 2015) Team XDS welcomed the Bird family of owners for their seasonal Summer visit! The day started with coffee and meetings and ended with laughs at the Neuroscience Group Field; the Fox Cities Timber Rattlers hosted a game versus the Peoria Chiefs.


The night started with Nathan Bird (above) throwing the first pitch of the game. Though we were all convinced he'd be offered a spot on the team, we're glad he stuck with XDS!

This annual tradition is an appreciated time to meet the wonderful families of those that are employed by either XDS or JB Machinery. Thank you to everyone who is and has been a part of our team. We look forward to seeing everyone next at the XDS Christmas party!

Until then, we wish the Bird family safe travels and well wishes, from Team XDS.



 In order from right to left: John Bird, Tanya Bird, Sandra Bird, Warren Bird, Nathan Bird


Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Introducing Jerry Packer to XDS


Packer (center), with engineering and design members.

Team XDS would like to welcome Jerry Packer on board as our new Project Manager. Jerry has 35+ years of background experience as a mechanical engineer, designing industrial dryers, chill rolls, air turns, and air pollution control equipment for printing and web coating industries.

“TeamXDS has an established reputation in the markets that it serves and is well positioned to expand into other markets and to develop new products that provide solutions to improve productivity.”

He then stated that because of this opportunity, XDS Holdings, Inc. presented a unique professional challenge to utilize his experience and knowledge to develop new products and take their existing product offerings into new markets.

Packer plans on implementing both employee and customer satisfaction through planned and controlled growth. When asked about the most valuable thing he’s taken from his experience, he replied “…[T]he most valuable assets of any company are the employees. Maintaining the team environment where everyone's contribution is important, recognized and appreciated is essential for growth and success.”

Welcome, Jerry!

Team XDS

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Introducing Bob Hershfeld To XDS Holdings, Inc.




Recently, we welcomed Bob Hershfeld to Team XDS as our new Director of Product Development. Bob brings his experience of over 10 years as a mechanical engineer in the printing industry. His focus has been on the development of corrugated flexographic and single-pass inkjet printing machinery as well as retrofit products. He also has significant experience with control and motion system design for machinery. What brought him to XDS was the challenge of bringing new products to market for the web and corrugated industries that are effective, reliable, cutting-edge, and cost effective.

“An exciting part of my job will be expanding [the Company’s] product offerings beyond drying equipment.  I also appreciated that XDS has significant research facilities that enable us to thoroughly develop and test new solutions in-house.”

By leveraging knowledge of the drying process and using equipment to provide solutions to customers, Hershfeld sees opportunity for gaining a competitive advantage with our existing product lines. He plans on implementing growth by leveraging new technologies such as LED systems to develop new product lines and enter new markets with improved performance.

The only challenge he foresees is the ability to provide cutting-edge solutions for our customers that out-perform the competition yet are also cost effective.  Expanding into UV and IR drying/curing markets beyond our core in flexographic printing will be a large project for our team of engineers.  When asked about the most valuable thing he has taken from his experience, though, he replied that he best learned “[h]ow to work with fellow employees, suppliers, customers, and the latest technologies to develop solutions that best fit the needs of our customers.”

Welcome, Bob!

Team XDS

Teaming Up In The Testing Lab

Rodger Whipple worked for XDS Holdings, Inc. when the company first began. He was the engineering mind behind most of the dryers we sell today. Though officially retired, Rodger works part time at XDS in Research and Development.

Currently, he’s collaborating with Brennan, a graduate student at UW Madison. The duo will be experimenting with current dryer products over the summer. Rodger had initially sought the insight of Greg Nellis and Sandy Klein, professors in the UW Madison mechanical engineering department. They were then able to connect Rodger with Brennan to create an advantageous relationship for both.

Brennan is working on his master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. His experimentation with dryers contributes to his academic graduate work in creating a mathematical model describing infrared drying. This in turn, he explained, will allow the swapping of elements in the model theory instead of physical trial and error on the dryers.

Rodger will then be able to test the efficiency of the dryers and make calculated improvements. These results could apply to developing improvements for other drying systems outside of the experiment, making improvements across product lines, and increasing quality control.

The only foreseeable challenge lies in developing the experiment and collecting reliable and useful data within the scheduled time. With the summer months ahead of them, Team XDS trusts that the two will fully be able to learn from the experiments. We wish them luck, patience, and success.

XDS Introduces KleenPlate+™ To Marketplace


Imagine this:
  •  Running continuously with zero stoppages for plate washing
  • Eliminating defects to print near-perfect solids
  • Press crews with more available production time
  • Quick return on investment from cutting waste

Introducing KleenPlate+™, a continuous on-press plate wash eliminations system specifically engineered to meet the needs of flexographic printing on a variety of substrates. KleenPlate+ traverses the plate automatically during printing while removing dried ink, debris, and contaminants from the plate surface directly after the print nip. A ‘kiss’ contact and completely dry process make all this possible without compromising your print reproduction or plate surface, whether solid or fine screen. A user-friendly interface enables multi-mode operation, flexibility, and precise control.

We have some tools for you!
To see how it operates, watch the video on our YouTube channel at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u77YgrEGSQU

Use our KleenPlate+™ Investment Calculator Tool on our product page to calculate your possible savings! All you have to do is visit the site (link below), and download the file by clicking on the calculator link. We already put together the calculations, so all you have to do is enter your information into the green cells provided, and the amount you could possibly save by investing in KleenPlate+™ will be displayed in the golden cell. Happy calculating! 
hhttp://teamxds.com/content/kleenplate%E2%84%A2

UV LED Is On Its Way!



  


The XDS team has been very excited these past months, helping guide UV LED curing systems into the market. Wondering why we’re anxiously awaiting? Because UV LED is a new technology that has a variety of advantages and upgrades from other UV curing systems. These systems have safety advantages, cost benefits, and process improvements—fundamentally everything a business owner could want.

Our Director of Web and Custom Products, Chuck Irons, has been working with a team of individuals who are discussing the UV LED technology, benefits, and applications of these systems. 

When glancing around their environment, individuals don’t realize the variety of industries and products in which UV technology plays a hand: nail salons, headlights, wooden flooring, magazine covers, etc.. With high speed, low contamination, small space requirements, and environmental benefits, you can probably see why XDS is eager to serve new markets.

Recently, representatives from XDS, Outlook, Retroflex, and other organizations met to talk about the specific performance and installation aspects of a UV LED curing system on a press. From top to bottom, everything was discussed; from warranties to product lifespan, coat quality and cost, cleaning and maintenance, and even opacity.


As we’ve already fulfilled quote requests, the market can expect to see a wave of UV LED technology in the future. We’re thrilled to be involved, and eager to watch its growth.