Sticking to the straight and narrow

Remember that old musical show-stopper: Anything you can do, I can do better? That could be the theme song for the narrow web sector right now, as each of the competing processes strives to out-perform the others in terms of quality, cost-effectiveness and time to market.

Some would say that out and out chest thumping is infinitely preferable to the false modesty once demonstrated by the digital contingent in passing itself off as complementary to the real deal. As if! There is no point surely in contending if your sights aren’t set firmly on pole position. The way in which things are turning out, however, it is beginning to look more like all are winners rather than winner takes all.

Flexo and offset printers might not care to admit this, but the one thing that digital has done not just better but single-handedly has been to reposition print as a marketing strategy rather than just an engineering process. With the high proportion of packaging print finding itself most at home on the supermarket shelves, so what? Well, so plenty when you seek to balance the equation between barely double-digit decision-making time across a multiplicity of choice. Packaging is the face of the product, and print is its voice.

Redefining the parameters

Part and parcel of the way in which print has been elevated up the marketing agenda are the logistical and financial possibilities and some of the benefits afforded by the short run: reduced inventory; tighter budgetary control; rapid response to altered trading conditions; and NPD without tears.

Arguably, the way in which the market for short-run applications has been developed is a classic example of a virtue made out of a necessity. “When digital first appeared, because it was so slow and expensive, short run was the only way it could compete, as the conventional processes just weren’t interested,” reflects Xeikon UK’s Industrial Sales Manager Paul Briggs. “Customers hardly ever asked for it. In the subsequent years, of course, the market has changed dramatically.”

One reason for that, of course, is that once conventional process woke up to the opportunity that digital was presenting it with, it developed the necessary technology to streamline the press operation by reducing makeready and downtime incurred by changeover between different jobs. Nearly all new flexo presses rely on servodrives to adjust cylinders and other features, and not on mechanical adjustments. Also, web paths are much straighter now, with cylinders positioned closely and UV curing positioned tightly by them.

Servodrives allow the set-up of a narrow web flexo press to be computer controlled, eliminating adjustments by hand. The straighter web paths also cut the amount of media wasted in set-up. These types of changes speed the set-up of individual jobs and allow job settings to be reproduced precisely. A recently published InfoTrends report assessed the new mid-range P5 addition to Mark Andy’s Performance range - introduced at last year’s US Labelexpo show - citing it as a current example of how flexo is positively addressing the short-run market.

“The P5 is profitable for jobs down to 800 linear feet; depending on the size of the label, that might range anywhere between 2,000 - 7,000 labels,” says InfoTrends’ Associate Director Bob Leahey. “As part of their Label Expo live demonstration, the Mark Andy operator set up four print jobs: two versions of a wine label as well as two separate health and beauty labels, which took about six minutes to prepare and test. Although the operator didn’t actually run each job in its entirety, to do so would have been short work given the P5’s speed of up to 750ft/min.”

In the same report, Mr Leahey also notes similar capabilities for Nilpeter’s FB3300, which has a comparable running speed, and is configured with eight UV-flexo units, an interchangeable rotary screen module and a hotfoil module has recently been installed by UK converter Labels Unlimited at its new factory near Stockport. The company’s main business is to produce paper and filmic self-adhesive labels for the home care and bakery sectors, with food labels for the farming industry as a growing specialisation.

Lately, however, it has expanded into flexible packaging, such as sachets and pouches, involving unsupported films and foil laminates, says MD Marc Bradley. “The new press with UV-curing will greatly expand production volumes and the type of products we can produce. Our equipment also includes an Aquaflex water-based flexo press, but we are looking to replace it soon with a second FB-3300.”

Comparable strengths

With a 420mm web width, Nilpeter’s FA-4 UV flexo system incorporates 13 printing units, with the one recently installed by German label and flexible packaging converter Rako utilising three solvent-gravure heads. “The decision to invest in a press with this number of units was triggered by customer request for variable configuration and high quality value added possibilities,” says Rako’s Technical Manager Rainer Bufe.

“The screen range and full tone of a colour can be separated and imaged in different print units. If this is considered in the planning stage and when choosing anilox rollers, it allows for a faster change-over, more reliable production and achieving results of a higher quality,” he says.

In the absence of gravure heads themselves, getting close to that standard of reproduction has been significantly facilitated by Kodak’s new Flexcel NX plate technology, due to the fact that a key aspect of the system occurs during the lamination, which ensures close contact between the layer and the plate, eliminating any oxygen. This results in a stable flat-topped dot, which is much sharper and cleaner on the plate.

“In 25 years of working with flexo we both believe that this is a true revolution in flexo technology which will soon become a recognised standard competing with litho and gravure,” says lead UK repro partner Reproflex 3’s joint Managing Director Trevor Lowes. “We are achieving an astonishing 240 screen ruling. Along with smooth vignettes, extended colour gamut and sharper images, the Flexcel NX plate is producing photographic quality on flexible and rigid substrates. This offers our customers a brand that stands out from the crowd and gives them a unique opportunity to introduce higher quality work into their portfolios – and likewise enables us to explore new business opportunities.”

Also aiming to lift flexo standards at the front end is DuPont with the extension of its Cyrel Fast thermal imaging technology into a round format fully compatible with most modern flexo presses – and which will bring sleeves properly into contention, says European Development Manager Paul Hammons.

“We can produce a sleeve in 20 minutes without using chemicals to individual customer requirements viz. the required print circumference; the required print width, internal diameter and so forth – and although a sleeve is more expensive than a flat plate, it eliminates a number of handling requirements and operator skills concomitant with that system.

“There’s also the marked improvement in quality and registration ability, as the more photopolymer around the sleeve, the more evenly balanced the mandrel (cylinder) becomes. Also, the life of the sleeve life is significantly extended because the uniform nature of the print surface reduces the amount of impression incurred, enabling it to be used many times over. In the past converters have tended to use sleeves because they’ve had to; say, for example, to print a background colour on a repeated long-run job that’s scheduled to repeat any number of times over a year.

“This sleeve technology, however, has a high potential for creative design and improved quality; for instituting rapid-response changes to existing formats, and for shorter-run, niche applications. It’s increasing the brand owner’s choice of how to get something manufactured, and is going to revolutionise the way in which the market thinks about flexo,” he says.

For all the progress made towards faster plate production and switching between jobs on the press, flexo’s dependence upon front-end technology continues to be its main disadvantage, says Xeikon’s Paul Briggs: “Whereas once proof approval has been reached digital can start printing straight away, for a flexo printer there’s an hour to get the plate made. And that’s assuming you have facilities in-house; otherwise, it’s a lot longer as it has to be outsourced from a repro house or wherever, who may or may not be able to drop everything in order to do it.”

However, once it is fully prepped, a contemporary flexo press can easily out-run its digital counterpart; even an inkjet system. The reality is that by the time it is ready to print, most short-run jobs are either in the finishing department or are even ready to be despatched, says Tamar Labels’ Managing Director Robert Lee.

“Lead times are getting shorter; design time is taking longer; launch time stays the same,” says Mr Lee. “Taking that on board, you’re pretty much bound to opt for digital. We make our flexo plates in-house so with a water wash-out system we can produce a set in 1.5-2 hours. Digital wins here, but once you’re on press the situation’s reversed. However, if the average job runs to around 7,000 labels, it can be produced before the flexo press even starts.”

Mark Andy's P5 flexo press is positively addressing the short-run market. Mark Andy Nilpeter's FA-4 UV flexo system incorporates 13 printing units. Nilpeter Kodak's Flexcel NX laminator eliminates oxygen during lamination. Laminator Kodak's Flexcel NX plate is producing photographic quality on flexible and rigid substrates, according to Reproflex 3. NX The sleeve between arc and format in DuPont's cylinder Cyrel Fast. Fast

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Mark Andy
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Kodak
Reproflex 3
Cyrel
Xeikon
Tamar Labels