Uniflex has seen a 30% increase in orders, a 25% reduction in ink use and costs, and a 19% drop in plate waste by using Esko’s Full HD Flexo.
The self adhesive labels specialist serving Russia, Kazakhstan and the Ukraine, is an enthusiastic adopter of Esko technology, including Full HD Flexo and Equinox colour technology software. The company is currently migrating production to Full HD Flexo after investing in two Inline UV2 systems at drupa 2012.
‘Many customers who were using gravure for their work are now looking seriously at what we can offer with our updated flexo capabilities,’ said Evgeny Lungin, head of prepress. ‘Their press runs are getting shorter, which makes gravure an expensive option.’
The company is migrating work from standard HD Flexo to Full HD Flexo, which makes print set up even easier. This has resulted in significant growth in gravure-to-flexo conversion, thanks to the improved quality achieved by combining HD Flexo with Inline UV2.
‘Today, 40% of all work is HD Flexo,’ commented Mr Lungin. ‘We are continuing the conversion process to Full HD Flexo, and our mid-term target is to print 60% of all jobs using this Esko solution.’
He continued, ‘Full HD Flexo makes very small, very high quality run lengths commercially viable since different jobs can be combined together on the same web. Highlights are much more stable against pressure than with normal HD Flexo plates, and the results are much more press independent.
Evgeny Lungin, head of prepress
‘We are even using Full HD Flexo plates on our 17-year-old press and achieving comparable quality to our new presses.’
Mr Lungin added, ‘This means jobs can be easily re-directed from one press to another, giving us a great deal of production workflow flexibility.’
Other benefits include high ink transfer and softer tape, which is more forgiving on press resulting in less bouncing. It is also easier to combine solids and process work on the same plate, and using the same tape for solids and process work cuts mounting time as well.
The Full HD Flexo combines 4000 dpi HD optics on the Cyrel Digital Imager (CDI) with Inline UV2 digital UV exposure and advanced screening technologies to produce sharper and more accurate imaging. It offers improved screening for higher solid ink density (SID) and more vibrant colours on packaging. This impressive result can be achieved while printing with standard flexo inks and anilox rollers.
Full HD Flexo extends the viability of flexo printing for flexible packaging by enabling the formation of different dot structures in one single plate to combine smooth highlights and gravure-like solid ink laydown.
