Producer of in-the-round flexo sleeves AKL Flexo Technik, based in Warburg, Germany, has been acquired by The Stork Prints Group for an undisclosed sum. Edward Scheppink has been appointed the new managing director, joining from Stork, where he was commercial manager for sleeve products at the company’s Boxmeer headquarters. He will also assume all commercial responsibilities, including sales and marketing activities. Ronald van de Meer, one of the AKL's co-founders, has been appointed technical manager.
One of AKL's most notable innovations in flexo sleeve technology is the OptiFlex thin sleeve. Its compatibility with any photopolymer is said to give users “the only true open platform that does not restrict the use of a specific polymer material”. Set-up times of as little as 30s per printing station are also claimed.
Edward Scheppink comments: "We believe that in-the-round flexo sleeve imaging has enormous potential - especially because of the growth in the flexible packaging market, and the need for seamless-endless printing solutions in combination with laser technology for both Laser Ablation Mask and Direct Laser Engraving. AKL’s expertise in this area will be instrumental in helping us find ways to reduce further the cost of ownership of flexography. A crucial step in achieving this is the development of fully compatible seamless-endless printing formes, which offer fast easy transfer from prepress to printing stage, and ease of set-up.”
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