Miraclon, the Kodak spin off company for flexographic print, says that it is setting a new frontier for flexo with Pure Flexo Printing.
This amounts to a new surface patterning for the Flexcel NX plate technology that improves ink flow and transfer, prevents blocking, reduces the need to stop the press to clean plates, delivers a faster start up and more stable colour.
It works through a sophisticated plate surface patterning algorithm to resist and control ink spread, the company claims. This results in fewer unwanted stops to clean the plate, enables the press to run faster on difficult jobs, improves scheduling and so improves the bottom line, it adds. There is also a decrease in proof to print matching issues.
This is the first major upgrade since the introduction of Flexcel NX Advantage in 2016, and like that upgrade, Pure Flexo is available to all Flexo NX users, being based around the same imaging platforms introduced in 2008. And testing in the field has been underway for two years, covering more than 20,000 jobs at printers in North and Latin America, Australia and Europe.
The plate will be produced at the Weatherfield plate factory in the US which opened shortly before Kodak sold its flexo interests in 2019. Kodak’s decision was based on placing its eggs in the inkjet basket and it has since partnered with Uteco for a digital press for flexible packaging.
Chris Payne, Miraclon CEO, believes there is plenty of opportunity in the analogue technology. He points to Smithers’ research predicting a 3% annual growth in flexible packaging. Pure Flexo will enable users to differentiate themselves. The predictability will also give more freedom to designers by removing some of the technical issues that affect flexo printing, giving printers a greater latitude to run higher quality jobs at speed.
The gain comes too with the reduction in press stops for cleaning, something that averages ten minutes each time. Calling it “the new frontier for flexo”, Payne adds: “Providing a 1% increase in press uptime is where the bigger benefits comes from. This is the real pay back.”
Looking ahead Payne says that Miraclon is eyeing opportunities. “We will be expanding the market reach going forwards, aiming at new applications in the printing packaging space with UV inks and in corrugated for example. We will have other solutions for the future.”
