Sagawa Printing Group Ltd has purchased two Kodak Flexcel Direct Systems, as the company looks to enter the market for packaging printing.

The firm is constructing an exclusive worksite for flexographic printing, where two Flexcel Direct Systems for flexographic platemaking will be introduced, together with two flexographic printing presses, two extrusion lines and two laminators.

‘In our quest to purchase a platemaking system, we focused on direct engraving systems because we’ve been using large direct engraving machines for publication gravure printing,’ said Akihiko Uyama, director, ‘A simpler platemaking process was another advantage of direct engraving platemaking systems. We decided to incorporate the Flexcel Direct System because of its high productivity based on unique, high-power semiconductor laser imaging technology. It is also easy to use, which was another key to our selection. We are looking to Kodak Japan to provide us with a deeper knowledge of flexo printing and higher quality products, including plates.’

The company also decided to incorporate water-based printing to enhance its environmental footprint. Overall, the system is positioned at the core of its platemaking process for flexographic printing with water-based ink, driving success in the printing process with its superior quality and productivity potential.

The system features high-power semiconductor laser imaging technology, Kodak-formulated press-ready elastomers and workflow software for accurate image reproduction. This combination of technology offers sleeves and plates for flexographic printing with both quality and productivity potential. In the round (ITR) platemaking for flexographic printing, which was once labour intensive, is now made easier by the system.

Package printing accounts for approximately 30% of the Japanese printing industry, with gravure printing dominating the flexible packaging segment with more than 99% market share. However, flexographic printing is attracting more attention in the Japanese package printing market as a result of a great improvement in its quality and because of its environmental advantages. This trend has caused an increasing number of companies to consider switching to or initiating flexographic printing programmes.