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The latest issue of Flexo + Tiefdruck (3-2022) contains an exciting article about the doctor blade. Ansgar Wessendorf writes about the background of this awe-inspiring development from Daetwyler. 

Link to the article: https://www.flexotiefdruck.de/gravure-global/who-invented-it-the-swiss-of-course/

(Source: Flexo + Tiefdruck, Edition 3 - 2022)

This year, our lamella doctor blade will turn 50! It all started 50 years ago at Ringier in Zofingen. The well-known entertainment magazine the „yellow magazine“ was printed by Ringier, however, the brown ink used was very abrasive and immediately started toning. Due to the constant wear of the doctor blades used at that time, the doctor blade contact area increased, which resulted in a permanent tonal value change. At the beginning of the seventies, this prompted the then Technical Management of Ringer - under the direction of Max Widmer and his assistant Ruedi Fankhauser -  to find a solution for uniform doctor blade wiping. Finally, Hans Burgener from Ringier came up with the idea of developing a lamella: our current lamella doctor blade.  The doctor blade newly developed by him was produced very elaborately with etching solution, and it already had the great advantage that the doctor blade contact area remained the same throughout the printing process. 

The foundation of today‘s lamella doctor blade was thus laid in Switzerland at the beginning of the seventies. However, Ringier was not completely satisfied with the reinvention, but had neither time nor employees to pursue this ingenious idea further. Therefore, Max Daetwyler & Co. took over the invention for further development and patenting! Max Daetwyler immediately recognized the hidden potential of this innovation and further developed this doctor blade shape. In a short time, a euphoria and momentum of ideas and developments arose. The doctor blades were no longer etched, but ground with high precision on self-developed grinding machines. Various steel materials were also tested and continuously further developed and improved. And last but not least, Daetwyler came up with the idea of coating the doctor blade.

That was a revolution in gravure printing. Daetwyler‘s coated doctor blades not only increased service life, but they also significantly improved print quality and became a household name. The Daetwyler doctor blades, whether coated or uncoated, stand for quality and reliability worldwide. And so, the ingenious idea of the „MDC lamella doctor blade“ will turn 50 this year. We have been on the market with our doctor blades for 50 years and we can proudly say that we remain number ONE on the doctor blade market. 

The program on the anniversary day included a visit to the second largest cylinder manufacturer in China, which owns Daetwyler laser engraving machines. In addition, a doctor blade customer specialized in the production of food and pharmaceutical packaging was visited. The Anniversary celebration continued with a dinner at the famous "Paulaner" restaurant. Daetwyler SwissTec presented a Doctor Blade in the shape of a 6 (meaning luck) and Daetwyler China expressed the successful cooperation of the last 20 years with a sailboat made from crystal.

Via video message Ralph Daetwyler also presented his congratulations and wishes for at least another 20 years of successful partnership.

We congratulate Beijing HSJ on their anniversary and wish them all the best for the future.

A change in management is happening at Daetwyler-Hell Iberia in the fall of 2021. The new General Manager Javier Ortega Gàlvez visited and introduced himself at our headquarters in Bleienbach. 

In the picture from left to right: Area Sales Manager Albert Torrent (DST), Javier Ortega Gàlvez (General Manager Daetwyler-Hell Iberica), Olaf Segbert (CSO DST) and Clemens Hatt (Division Manager Heliograph Holding).