At Asahi Photoproducts, we are busy getting ready for drupa 2016, scheduled for 31 May through 10 June in Düsseldorf. We hope we will see you there; we’ll be located in Hall 11, Stand A60, at the show, and we have some great technologies to share!
We’re excited to be bringing our full range of flexographic plates featuring Pinning Technology for Clean Transfer. This unique Asahi plate technology is specifically engineered to transfer all remaining ink to the print substrate due to the photopolymer plates having a lower surface energy than other plates on the market. Not only does this deliver stunning graphical quality, but it also improves overall production efficiencies due to reduced makeready waste and fewer press wash-ups.
It’s also ideal for fixed colour palette printing, and we’ll be featuring that process in our stand as well. Also referred to as extended color gamut (ECG), with fixed colour palette printing, flexographic printers are able to achieve a very close match to most spot colours, generally using a set of seven inks: CMYK + Orange, Green, Violet or CMYK + Orange, Green, Blue. While certain colours will still require a spot colour ink, the number of those inks required is vastly reduced, and the press is never down for wash-up and makeready between jobs. This creates a significant efficiency improvement.
Speaking of efficiency improvements, we’ll be sharing our latest study in the form of a white paper that validates the benefits of our AWP™ water-washable plates with Pinning Technology for Clean Transfer. Recently, Asahi Photoproducts, together with The Uteco Group of Verona, Italy, recently undertook a press trial at the Uteco Converdome, its state-of-the-art printing technology center. The purpose was to demonstrate the efficiencies and environmental benefits that can be achieved using Asahi’s water-washable AWP™ flexographic plates as compared with conventional solvent-washable plates.
What we found was that using Asahi AWP™ plates with our Pinning Technology for Clean Transfer delivered a 26% OEE improvement over conventional solvent plates. Using all of the same components, but just changing out the plate type, we ran about 38,000 linear meters media with each plate type, using our plates and standard solvent-based plates. The significant contributing factors to the Asahi performance were that our plate with Pinning Technology for Clean Transfer enabled the run to be completed 33 minutes faster than the conventional plate. The Pinning plate required less press stops for cleaning, saving 39 minutes, and produced 575 linear meters less waste material. These are significant numbers that contribute to increased efficiency and sustainability in the flexographic printing process.
We’ll also have some new plates to show, as well as a few other surprises. New plates include:
• AFP™ – new double layer digital flexo plates, designed to produce deep vibrant colour prints for water- and solvent-based inks in flexible packaging applications. Deep colour balance is delivered by using a unique multilayer polymer solution, giving the best balance between highlight dots and deep vibrant colours within one plate. Deep balanced colour plates represent the first plate solution in the market that combines vibrant colour printing with the Pinning Technology for Clean Transfer OEE features.
• AWP™DEW plate solutions, incorporating the renowned quality properties of AWP™DEF plates with the addition of a faster plate processing speed, making this plate ideal for larger format flexible packaging operations with higher plate throughput. It has the same consistent plate dimensional stability vital for fixed colour palette printing, delivering significant quality and OEE benefits.
We extend a warm welcome to you to visit us at drupa 2016, where we can learn more about your business and share ideas on how to improve overall efficiencies for greater profitability. See you there!
