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Reversing the Trend March 2009 Your Portal to the Global Flexographic Industry F lexo G lobal TM
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Reversing the Trend
March 2009
Your Portal to the Global Flexographic Industry
FlexoGlobalTM
2 www.flexoglobal.com March 2009FlexoGlobal
Features
FlexoGlobalTM
FlexoGlobalTM
FlexoGlobal’s e-magazine is brought to you by FlexoGlobal,
your portal to the global flexographic industry.
FlexoGlobal’s mission is to deliver to the global flexographic community topnotch technical
articles authored by industry experts, industry updates on an
international level, and overviews of business practices to improve
operating efficiencies.
Publisher & Editor-in-ChiefLaura Wayland-Smith Hatch
Volume 2 No. 2
FlexoGlobalEditorial, Advertising, & Circulation Office
Salmon Creek Publishing7580 Salmon Creek Road
Williamson, NY [email protected]
315.589-8879Copyright © 2009 Salmon Creek
Publishing. All rights reserved. None of the materials in this pub-lication may be used, reproduced,
or transmitted, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or the
use of any information storage and retrieval system without permis-
sion in writing from the publisher.
Contents
Change! ............................................................................ 6
Laura Wayland-Smith Hatch,FlexoGlobal
Things are changing at FlexoGlobal. We’re just shy of our one-year anniversary and, despite the gloom and doom that has become the mantra of today’s media, we’re excited about the coming year and what we can offer the flexo industry.
Weyerhaeuser’s Flexo Printing Facilities Streamline Prepress by Switching to New High-Tech Plate Mounting ..................................8
Jim McMahon, Zebra Communications
Historically, flexographic printing (flexo) has long been considered a low-quality printing system, but a mainstay for the printing of packaging containers such as corrugated boxes and flexible packaging like food bags, shopping bags, and self-adhesive labels. Over the past decade, technical developments in the flexo print-ing process have greatly improved print quality—i.e., enhancing the ability to reproduce highlight tonal values - working around the high dot gain associated with flexo printing, and by making accessible four-plus-color applications.
Finance for Printed Electronics is Not Drying Up .................. 16
Dr. Peter Harrop Ph.D., IDTechEx Ltd.
The news media are full of the details of the global financial meltdown. Is this affecting finance for the small companies and startups involved in printed and potentially printed electronics and electrics? We think not.
Calibrating, Printing, & Proofing by the G7 Method or Flexography ..................................................................... 20
Michael Bayard, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Flexographic plates are commonly made from photopolymer material by pho-tographic process, which involves film. Digital platemaking technologies have been developed due to rapid growth of flexographic printing and some have in-volved the use of rapid prototyping (RP) technologies.
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4 www.flexoglobal.com March 2009FlexoGlobal
FlexoGlobalTM
Contents
Sponsor News Flexographic Ink Cleaning Company Receives EPA Certification & Challenges Industry to Do the Right Thing ........................................................................................... 30
Harper Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Creating the Highest Quality Coating Technology .................................................................................................................................. 32
Kodak Completes Expansion of its Digital Plate Production Facility in Columbus, Ga.; Opens Third Production Line .............................................................. 32
FLXON’s Milestone Celebration Offer ............................................................................. 34
New video demonstration available on Troika Plate-II-Print ................................. 34
EskoArtwork showcases comprehensive range of workflow solutions at Gulf Pack/Gulf Print ......................................................................................................................... 35
New York Company Rescues California Flexo Printers with its line of California Compliant Products ................................................................................................................ 36
EskoArtwork takes print and packaging efficiencies on the road for a 9-city tour ................................................................................................................................................. 37
2009 Harper Flexographic Solutions Tour Coming to a City Near You! ....... 38
EskoArtwork provides solutions for all printers at Graphics of the Americas ...40
Kodak Expands Color Gamut, Enhances Quality with New Suite of KODAK APPROVAL Packaging Color Donors .............................................................................. 42
President and Mrs. Obama dance on a custom-built circular stage with a faux finish design cut on an EskoArtwork Kongsberg i-XL .............................................. 43
Kodak Recognized for Global Sustainable Business Practices ...................................................................................................................................... 45
Joint Venture in Gravure: The Leading Manufacturers of Gravure Cylinder-Making Equipment Join Forces ......................................................................................... 46
GoodOnYa Bar Wrapped in Compostable NatureFlex™ Film ... 48
Fox Valley Technical College - Knowledge That Works ............ 50
Founding Sponsors:FLXON, Inc. ......................................................................................................................................5
Harper Corporation ....................................................................................................... 7 & 27
Eastman Kodak ................................................................................................................ 3 & 31
Platinum Sponsors:EskoArtwork ...................................................................................................................................9
Flexocleaners.com ................................................................................................................... 13
Max Daetwyler Corporation .................................................................................... 17 & 23
The Provident Group............................................................................................................... 21
5www.flexoglobal.comMarch 2009 FlexoGlobal
6 www.flexoglobal.com March 2009FlexoGlobal
Editorial
Laura Wayland-Smith HatchPublisher & Editor-in-Chief
Things are changing at FlexoGlobal. We’re just shy of our one-year anniversary and, despite the gloom and
doom that has become the mantra of today’s media, we’re excited about the coming year and what we can offer the flexo industry.
Over the past month, I have spent some time speaking with FlexoGlobal users, asking them what they like, and what they dislike, about our offerings and what we can do to bet-ter service their needs. People were generous with their time and gave me some great suggestions that I’ll be imple-menting.
Increased Frequency of e-FlexoGlobalWhen e-FlexoGlobal was first launched, it was based on the old model of a printed magazine with rigid deadlines and publication dates. Well, this is an electronic publication, and while we do report on the printing industry, we are not putting ink on paper and should not be locked into an out-moded production cycle.
So, starting with this issue, you will be seeing e-FlexoGlobal more frequently. No longer will we be holding onto sub-missions, waiting for the next scheduled publication date. Instead, we will be publishing more frequent and timelier “e-journals,” with smaller page counts to make it easier for you to identify the articles you want to read and save.
Sponsor Press Releases in e-FlexoGlobalFor our sponsors, we’ll be including their latest press releases in each issue of e-FlexoGlobal. We value their support, and it’s important that you are able to access their press releases, whether it’s on the Web site, in the e-newsletter, or now in the e-journal.
Blast E-mail ServicesFor those that are looking economical methods to reach their customers, we are now offering blast e-mails services to our global mailing list. Simply send us your html, or we can design a message for you, and we’ll send it out to the over 7,000 flexo professionals who receive our FlexoGlobal newsletters. And we do this for a reasonable fee, one that al-most any company should be able to afford. Give us a call at 315.589.8879 to learn more about the program, or e-mail me at [email protected].
Posting Job Searches & Job OpeningsIt’s rough economic times out there, and we are going are best to help those who have been downsized, made redun-dant, etc. to connect with potential new employers. If you are looking for a new position, please feel free to send us your resume. We’ll not only post it to the FlexoGlobal Web site, but will also feature it in an e-newsletter, increasing your visibility and improving your chances of making that connection.
And, if you have an opening and are searching for a candi-date with a solid flexographic background, please consider advertising the opening with us. We offer both an online posting and e-newsletter features, and all for less than the cost of one newspaper classified ad.
These are just a few of the things we’ve been working on. I hope that you will find them to be of value. And, if you have any suggestions for continuing improvements, please feel free to drop me a note at [email protected]. I’m always open to new ideas!
Change
7www.flexoglobal.comMarch 2009 FlexoGlobal
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Technology
Weyerhaeuser’s Flexo Printing Facilities Streamline Prepress by Switching to New High-Tech Plate Mounting
by Jim McMahon, Zebra Communications
Challenged with shorter lead times, smaller order quantity, and tighter registration, forest products giant, Weyerhaeuser, increased prepress production by 100 percent, cut downtime between runs, reduced prepress waste, and improved safety with the new digital Vision Plate Mounter/Proofer
system from Leader Engineering.
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Technology
Historically, flexographic printing (flexo) has long been considered a low-quality printing system, but a main-
stay for the printing of packaging containers such as cor-rugated boxes and flexible packaging like food bags, shop-ping bags, and self-adhesive labels. Over the past decade, technical developments in the flexo printing process have greatly improved print quality—i.e., enhancing the ability to reproduce highlight tonal values - working around the high dot gain associated with flexo printing, and by making accessible four-plus-color applications. But, the systems for the mounting and calibration of flexographic plates onto printing cylinders have not evolved as rapidly, that is sub-stantially enough to provide for quick and highly accurate mounting of the flexible printing plates.
Plate Mounting BottleneckThe quality of a flexo printing job depends, to a large de-gree, on the care in which prepress preparations are carried out. This includes mounting the flexible plate on the print-ing cylinder, checking color registration, and proofing. The mounting of the printing plates onto printing cylinders re-quires a high degree of alignment accuracy. The image on the printing plate must be perfectly square and in register with the printing cylinder in order to print clearly. The ar-rangement of the printing plates in the exact predetermined relationship with one another requires that their position be accurately determined prior to mounting.
After the plates are mounted onto the cylinders, the press operator must stop the press to examine the print results for acceptability. If out of registration, the operator must remove the plates from the cylinders and start over from the beginning. This activity is time consuming, resulting in substantial press downtime.
A common method to mount and align printing plates on the printing cylinder involves the drawing of a line around the printing cylinder. This line is then aligned by eye with a longitudinal line along the length of the photopolymer or other printing plate. The plate is then wrapped around the cylinder. This method is somewhat accurate, but can be ex-tremely time consuming for the operator, leading to delays between print runs.
Other plate mounting and calibration systems have been devised for flexo printing using manual or semi-manual systems, such as employing rods for rolling the plate onto the cylinder, light projection to position the plates, plate vacuum suction devices, and registration pins and holes to align the plates on the cylinder. Each of these methods has proven to be error prone in registration.
Recently, a new high-tech, fully automated digital system of plate mounting and proofing has become available for use on flexographic printing equipment. It delivers quick and precisely accurate mounting for both horizontal and verti-cal alignment, accommodates a variety of different sizes of printing plates and cylinders, and is also easy to operate. The system appears to provide a solution to the long-standing calibration and press downtime problems associated with flexo plate mounting and proofing.
Called the “Vision Plate Mounter/Proofer®,” and manu-factured by Leader Engineering-Fabrication, Inc. (www.flexomounting.com), over the past five years it has been tested and selected by Weyerhaeuser Company as the plate mounter/proofer system of choice being used within sev-eral of its U.S. flexo printing facilities.
WeyerhaeuserWeyerhaeuser Company, an international forest products company with annual sales of $21.9 billion, is one of the largest pulp and paper companies in the world, and the world's largest private timberland. The company was found-ed in 1900, currently employs about 41,000 people in 18 countries, and has ranked in the Fortune 200 since 1956.
Weyerhaeuser’s Containerboard Packaging and Recycling segment, one of the company’s five operating divisions, produces paper, boxes, and bags to move products from manufacturers to millions of households. The segment col-lects and recycles wastepaper, boxes and newsprint to make new products, it also provides a full spectrum of point-of-purchase design, production, packaging, and fulfillment services, including some of the world’s most technologically sophisticated flexographic printing centers.
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“We were looking for increased throughput and improved quality in our mounting area because of the constraints that mounting was having on our printing presses,” says Harry Matthews, Superintendent of the Weyerhaeuser preprint plant in Tucker, Georgia. “We are challenged with shorter lead times, smaller order quantities, and tighter registration, and we felt that the Leader Vision system could address all of these issues at the same time. We purchased one of these mounters back in 2005. Initially, we looked at the machine because our Hillsborough sister-plant in Oregon had been using the same machine for about three years and had done real well with it.”
“Before, it would take one of our mounters about one hour to mount a plate on the print cylinder,” continues Mat-thews. “With the leader machine, they can do it in about ten minutes. From a quality standpoint, one of our biggest downtime problems was sending jobs that were not in reg-istration, or were not quite right, to the printing press, and we would have to go back and rework it. With the Leader machine, we can actually see mathematically before we go to press whether or not the plates are in the proper position. As opposed to looking at a printed proof that may have too much ink to clearly tell if it is in registration, we know ex-actly what the registration is before we go to press. We have the ability to stop and rework something before it goes to the press instead of afterwards and creating downtime.”
“The machine measures four decimal points to the right, so it is extremely accurate,” Matthews says. “The tolerance of that machine is well beyond the tolerance of our printing presses. So, if we can get a job mounted correctly on the Leader, then we know it will run efficiently on the press.”
“We have experienced a sizable improvement in our deliv-ery of jobs to the press,” Matthews explains. “This affords us more run time, and our customers are getting a better product as we are getting better registration on what we are sending to our customers.”
A Better Mounting SolutionThe Leader Vision system is a state-of-the-art vision sys-tem capable of mounting almost every type of flexographic printing plate. The computer and its software take electron-
ic data from the art department and send it directly to the mounter/proofer computer to mount the plate with only two clicks from the mounter operator (remove and then to the press computer). It utilizes a dual camera system, with a large view camera, which locates microdots or reference points on a pre-press table holding the plate to be mount-ed. The narrow view camera then magnifies the microdots 70 times and pinpoints the exact center-point for accurate registration. The plate is then positioned, and the Leader Vision system brings the plate up against the press cylin-der with a pressure roller and applies the plate exactly to a corresponding micro-dot position on the press. Operator variations are removed because this system does not require the operator to position the microdots.
Unusual with plate mounting and proofing systems, the Leader machine ensures good prints from the first revolu-tion of the print cylinder. Excessive plate handling, which causes damaged plates, is eliminated, as is misalignment of plates due to parallax from positioning of the human eye. Vacuum grooves secure the plate to the prepress worksta-tion, eliminating punch holes.
Automated mounting - Leader Vision System
Tighter Plate RegistrationThe Leader Vision system is so tight on its registration that Weyerhaeuser has uncovered tolerance aberrations in its printing plates that it did not realize existed while using its prior manual plate-mounting method.
12 www.flexoglobal.com March 2009FlexoGlobal
Technology
“We are working with plates that are 50 x 80 inches in size, large sheets of material,” says Matthews. “It is not unrea-sonable to think that there was going to be some tolerance variations in the plate-making process. The plate makers can introduce variation in the way the plates are made. The timing of the exposure, the timing of the washout, the tim-ing between the washout, and the drying, etc.—if these se-quences vary at all in the plate manufacturing process, then one plate will be longer or shorter then the other. These variations affect the registration on press, which are not al-ways evident in traditional mounting systems. The Leader equipment showed up the aberrations immediately and al-lowed us to compensate for the deviations accordingly. It really brought it to our attention how much unknown vari-ance was occurring on our prior system.”
Mounting Multiple Jobs, Mounting Across Shifts, Mid-Run Plate ReplacementOne of the key features about this system from an efficiency standpoint is that because the machine mounts the plates—they are not manually mounted—and places them with digital precision, multiple plate mounting cycles can be done simultaneously, and the action of plate mounting can cross work shifts easily without any variation in plate place-ment accuracy. For example, if three different workers are mounting conventionally, they would have to finish one job before they started the next or risk losing their registration. With the Leader, they can mount a dozen cylinders and a dozen different jobs at the same time—the machine stores the data on all of the coordinates, which can be retrieved at any time. Literally, the system permits entry and retrieval of thousands of mounting jobs.
Likewise, if a print job is in progress and a plate has to be re-placed, the cylinder can be pulled out, the plate pulled and replaced with another, which will be positioned in exactly the same place as the prior plate. It is a very exacting and easy process.
Production Down-Time ReducedThe amount of time it takes to get a job on press is typically the same, whether it is a one-roll job or a twenty-roll job. Weyerhaeuser runs a lot of smaller orders of one and two rolls. Instead of spending up to four hours mounting plates
for a new one- or two-roll job like before—and running an-other job as a fill while the next job is being set up—they simply pull the cylinders out of the press, go back to the mounter, and have the cylinders back and ready to go back on the press in a fraction of the time. Downtime has been greatly eliminated with the Leader system.
“From a quantitative standpoint, we have been able to more than double our production, mostly because of an elimi-nation of factors,” Matthews says. “There is no layout that needs to be drawn as you would find on a conventional sys-tem. There is no inking of plates and cleaning in the proof-ing process that you would normally require.”
“We have also been able to move to a larger plate format, so we are mounting fewer plates per job,” continues Matthews. “On our old system, we would probably mount 38 to 35 plates for a seven-color job; now we are more likely doing it with 14 to 21 plates.”
“Our employees that have had the proper training on the Leader system have more than doubled their productivity in any given day,” Matthews explains. “Our throughput is pretty much driven by how quickly we can move cylinders in and out of the machine, as opposed to the mounting it-self. This is quite a difference in this industry.”
Mounter with cylinder loading mechanism and laser gauge for checking cylinder quality before mounting - Leader
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13www.flexoglobal.comMarch 2009 FlexoGlobal
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Technology
“We also have improved our safety in the mounting area, because ergonomic conditions there have been one of our biggest areas of concern,” Matthews says. “Rubbing of plates and moving sticky back, etc.- a big cause of carpal tunnel syndrome, these types of things have been eliminated with the Leader machine.”
Siemens AutomationThe Leader machine includes a palate of high-tech control system components developed by Siemens Energy & Auto-mation, which has provided a total solution for the electri-cal components in the machine, such as its Simotion® prod-uct. Most machines require motion control (positioning, synchronous operation), PLC functionality, and technol-ogy tasks (i.e., pressure control and temperature control). The fusion of these functions into one system—as with Simotion—has a number of advantages such as lower en-gineering costs and higher machine performance, elimina-tion of time-critical interfaces between individual compo-nents, and simple, uniform, and transparent programming and diagnostics for the entire machine with a single tool. The focus here is placed on a simple and flexible solution for numerous motion control tasks.
Also, Siemens is providing its SINAMICS S120® drive sys-tem, which provides powerful single drives and coordinat-ed drives (multiple-axis applications) supporting vector or servo functions, and Siemens SCALANCE X® Industrial Ethernet Switches.
“Siemens is working with us closely to develop improved control systems for our plate mounting and proofing equip-ment,” says Charles Leader, President of Leader Engineer-ing-Fabrication, Inc. “It is a very close alliance building the best equipment possible for the flexo industry.”
“The Leader machine is actually mounting at a higher level of precision than any other system,” Leader continues. “We will give our clients the best print possible out of that par-ticular mount and those plates.”
“This machine produces a far more accurate registration than one could ever achieve manually or with prior systems,”
Leader says. “We feel very strongly that this is the future of flexographic mounting.
About LeaderStarted in 1984, Leader handles projects from concept through engineering, fabrication, installation and training. The company manufactures the following lines of equip-ment: (a) Die casting equipment - leak test equipment in-cluding trim presses, trim dies, sawing, drilling and milling equipment; (b) Printing equipment - plate wash-out sys-tems, ovens and dryers, and plate light exposure systems; (c) Printing mounting/proofing equipment - computer-oper-ated vision system capable of mounting flexographic print-ing plates; (d) Food processing equipment - for the prepara-tion, handling, filling and cooling of cans, jars and bags; (e) Custom machine design and build - based on production rates, part sizes, budgets, available floor space, operator er-gonomics, safety and maintenance requirements.
For more information on Leader Engineering-Fabrication, Inc., please contact Charles Leader, President; 695 Inde-pendence Drive, P.O. Box 670, Napoleon, OH 43545; Phone 419-592-0008; e-mail [email protected]; www.flexomounting.com.
About SiemensSiemens Energy & Automation, Inc. is one of Siemens’ op-erating companies in the U.S. Headquartered in the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta, Ga., Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc. manufactures and markets one of the world’s broadest ranges of electrical and electronic products, systems and services to industrial and construction market customers. Its technologies range from circuit protection and energy management systems to process control, industrial software and totally integrated automation solutions. The company also has expertise in systems integration, technical services and turnkey industrial systems.
Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) is one of the largest global electron-ics and engineering companies with reported worldwide sales of $107.4 billion in fiscal 2006. Founded nearly 160 years ago, the company is a leader in the areas of Medical, Power, Automation and Control, Transportation, Informa-
15www.flexoglobal.comMarch 2009 FlexoGlobal
tion and Communications, Lighting, Building Technolo-gies, Water Technologies and Services and Home Applianc-es. With its U.S. corporate headquarters in New York City, Siemens in the USA has sales of $21.4 billion and employs approximately 67,000 people throughout all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Eleven of Siemens' worldwide businesses are based in the United States. With its global headquarters in Munich, Siemens AG and its subsidiaries employ 475,000 people in 190 countries.
For more information on Siemens automation solutions, please contact Mary Heather Ryals, Marketing Commu-nications Specialist, Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc.; 5300 Triangle Parkway, Norcross, GA 30092; Phone 770-871-3993; e-mail [email protected]; or visit their Web site at www.sea.siemens.com.
About the AuthorJim McMahon is one of the most published writers of in-dustrial and high-tech feature stories, having appeared in hundreds of publications throughout the world. In any given month, his stories are read by more than a million readers. He is the architect of Performance-Based PR and the author of the book Ultra-Positioning for Industrial & High-Tech Companies. His company, Zebra Communica-tions (www.zebracom.net), is the world's most published industrial and high-tech PR firm.
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16 www.flexoglobal.com March 2009FlexoGlobal
Technology
The news media are full of the details of the global finan-cial meltdown. Is this affecting finance for the small
companies and startups involved in printed and potentially printed electronics and electrics? We think not.
Every year, companies leave the oversupplied OLED value chain. Rob Haslett, CEO of Patterning Technologies, the ink jet specialist in the UK, tells us that the company has folded because an £850,000 investment has fallen through.
We, therefore, approached Dr. Alison Voice of Leeds Lithi-um Power in the UK, which has a laminar battery produced reel-to-reel and has spent down a first round of finance. This product is based on an appealing lithium gel process involv-ing a polyvinylidene film as binder and excellent batteries are produced experimentally with the potential to rival the laminar lithium batteries of such famous, well-funded start-ups as Infinite Power Solutions, Solicore, and the recently
created Planar Devices Inc. Such batteries are needed for miniature energy harvesting, backup power supplies, active RFID, and many other applications.
Cymbet and Planar, both in the US, recently announced versions with the control electronics integral in the bat-tery.
Dr Alison Voice and her colleague, Professor Ian Ward, have prepared the following response for Printed Electron-ics World:
"The Polymer Gel Electrolytes Group, housed within the Polymer IRC at Leeds University, is no longer trading as Leeds Lithium Power after the completion of the recent Venture Capital funding. However, they currently have a number of active collaborations with industry, making bat-teries and smart cards, and are advancing the scientific un-
Finance for Printed Electronics is Not Drying Up
By Dr. Peter Harrop Ph.D., IDTechEx Ltd.
derstanding of the processes that underpin the technology through academic research. The work is currently funded by the University directly, but the group is seeking further funding and collaboration."
This follows on the heels of funding problems at Thin Film Electronics in Sweden the company printing non-volatile memory so urgently needed for the printed electronics of the future. Its process involves an elegant, simple capacitor-like structure containing a layer of organic ferroelectric with giant Solvay of Belgium signed up as a partner to further improve the formulation.
Thin Film Electronics ASA ("Thinfilm") of Sweden an-nounced on 5 December 2008 that "discussions with a potential industrial shareholding partner had been put on hold due to the situation in the world's financial markets.
Consequently, the board of Thinfilm has considered vari-ous alternative routes forward towards the commercialisa-tion of the company's technology. As a result of the cur-rent financial market combined with the company's cash resources, Thinfilm needs to adjust its operation to ensure timely completion of certain critical tasks related to indus-trialisation and the establishment of channels to the mar-ket. The board of directors has decided to initiate cost sav-ings in Linköping, Sweden. A core team will be retained. The savings are expected to take effect by the end of the first quarter of 2009."
However, although it is tempting to conclude that the fi-nancial meltdown is going to destroy, or at least put on the back burner, many exciting companies in this field, things are not so simple. Solvay, having only taken an interest in printed electronics in recent years, is continuing to put
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Technology
significant money into new businesses and research in the field, the latest being a three-year program to develop or-ganic printed transistors at the center for Photonics and Electronics at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the US. The focus is high-speed printing at low temperature. Pelikon of the UK, the small company successfully making and selling printed ac electroluminescent displays, has just been bought for $10.7 million by the quoted Multi-Fine-line Electronix (MFLEX) of the US. That is not a distress level price.
Liquavista of the Netherlands—the spinoff from Philips in printed, flexible, color displays—and Plastic Logic—the spinoff from Cambridge University in the UK in flexible e-books—have recently entered production in the UK. It reports, "Liquavista opened its first volume production fa-cility in September 2008 and introduced Liquavista Col-orBright, its first product offering, in October 2008. With the vision to more than double the performance and sub-stantially reduce the environmental impact of information displays, Liquavista's products will allow people to be mo-bile without compromise."
Liquavista has now commenced a $20 million program to build full-color, full-video, low-power, always-visible demos, collaborating with Plastic Logic in the face of fierce competition from East Asia.
Then there is the successful ongoing fundraising by Plastic Logic itself, taking its backing beyond $150 million as it goes into mass production in Germany with its first-gener-ation, monochrome flexible displays and the many startups in printed electronics that continue to be funded across the world.
Konarka of the US, holding more patents on printed photo-voltaics than any other organization on earth, has yet to sell product in volume. Despite this, it has recently announced wide web production capability, $45 million in funding from Total of France, and a heavily funded collaborative program in Germany aimed at improving the lifetime of organic photovoltaics.
Konarka recently announced at the IDTechEx Printed Electronics USA event that it could obtain ten-year life, but only with barrier layers that are currently prohibitively ex-
pensive, so there is work to do. Total gains a stake of almost 20 percent in Konarka, and Konarka will receive assistance in developing new products from Total's chemical subsid-iaries Atotech, Bostik, Hutchison, Sartomer, and Total Pet-rochemicals.
In fact, IDTechEx calculates that there are 50 percent more organizations working in printed electronics than was the case two years ago, and its annual conference and exhibi-tion series in the USA, Europe and Japan on the subject continues to grow strongly in attendance. The US Military, NASA, the US Department of Energy, and many other government organizations across the world continue to strongly invest in the industry as well. Major funding is also being found in Europe.
The bottom line is that funding for startups and small com-panies involved in printed and potentially printed electron-ics and electrics continues to be available from many sources and progress is unabated.
To obtain the latest information on the printed electronics industry, attend the annual IDTechEx Printed Electronics Europe 2009 event in Dresden, Germany on April 7-8. Over 700 attendees are expected. The event uniquely focuses on the application of the technology, with needs from major end users presented, such as Fiat, NASA, Cubic Transpor-tation Systems, Medixine, Future Shape, SBF, Interactive Wear and many others.
Learn more at www.IDTechEx.com/peEurope.
About the Author:Dr. Peter Harrop Ph.D., FIEE is Chairman of IDTechEx Ltd. He was previously Chief Executive of Mars Electronics, the $260 million electronics company and Chairman of Pinacl plc, the $100m fibre optic company. He has been chairman of over 15 high tech companies. He has written 14 books on technical subjects, these being published by the Financial Times, John Wiley and others. He lectures and consults internationally on RFID, smart labels, printed/organic electronics and smart packaging. [email protected]
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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to see if grey could be bal-anced using the G7 method on a flexographic press
using a four-color process. The process claimed to enable a printer to achieve a closer visual match to a 50% black using 50% cyan, 40% magenta, and 40% yellow.
The study investigated several standards organizations, their purposes, and how knowledge towards standardiza-tion is contributed. Information on these organizations was collected from articles and Web sites as to their purpose and desired missions. Getting a process to be accepted as a standard was found to be a lengthy process as it may have to pass through many subcommittees and testing before it is endorsed by an accredited organization. This process has a positive influence because everything is rigorously tested before endorsement. Conversely, technology moves so quickly that this process could become a bottleneck in the industry.
Calibrating, Printing, & Proofing by the G7 Method for Flexography
By Michael Bayard, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Resulting from the study was an experimental pressrun with a Mark Andy 2200 flexographic press. The first of two press runs showed that using 50% cyan, 40% magenta, and 40% yellow yield a muddy-brown. Data was collected from the print samples and put through special software to make the muddy brown CMY combination a closer visual match to gray. The results showed the process does make a combina-tion of 50% cyan, 40% magenta, and 40% yellow a closer visual match to grey or 50% black.
IntroductionIn the printing industry, accuracy and speed are required for success. To increase the accuracy of a printer’s tools, there are specifications for the four-color printing processes that have been adopted as standards in the graphic arts industry. Currently, the General Recommendation for Applications in Offset Lithography (GRACoL) is in “beta” stages of in-troducing G7 as a future calibration specification. The G7 method represents a radical departure from old measure-
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ment specifications and introduces calibration techniques based on ISO standards. The goal of G7 is to achieve a com-mon, similar, or shared visual match between a digital proof and what is produced on the press. Using tone or contrast reproduction and grey balance are the two central princi-ples G7 uses to achieve a visual match.
12
The graphic arts industry moved rapidly in the direction of continuous development through implementation of standardization practices. Within these standards, printers have been able to innovate more effective methods of print production with more stringent color specifications. Con-stant improvement in this area is necessary for anyone to maintain a strong, competitive advantage in the industry. Recently, there has been a shift in technique of four-color process calibration methods and proofing. In years past, proof-matching methods were highly “craft” oriented and often done once the job was on press. This resulted in varied results and an ambiguous standard. Today, the fulcrum is moving out towards using colorimetry measurements and ICC profiles to “match” a proof by meeting standardized specifications. These new colorimetric specification stan-dards are designed to take a four-color job to any output device and visually achieve very similar color results. Under the umbrella of specification standards, printers can charac-terize their output devices and certify that the quality they are providing is of high value to their customers.
This study will address the following question: As printers calibrate, proof, and print by the G7 method, to what ex-tent will they be able to achieve more accurate grey balance using Neutral Print Density Curves (NPDC) rather than measured dot gain or Tonal Value Increase (TVI)? In addi-tion, to what extent will ISO-defined colorants in colorim-etry along with G7 provide for more accurate repeatability across multiple print methods?
This study will conclude based on experimental data, that this new calibration method is capable of balancing neutral greys given that there are ISO colorants.
The meaning behind the moniker “G7” has to do with the two methods by which a printing device is calibrated. “G” refers to grey and the method used to match Neutral Print Density Curves (NPDC) using single pigment inks that
meet ISO standards to balance grey tones. The number “7” references the seven primary color values defined in the ISO 12647-6:2006 Cyan (C), Magenta (M), Yellow (Y), Black (K), Red (M+Y), Green (C+Y), and Blue (C+M). Calibrating to G7 requires two stages that involve first matching a Neutral Print Density Curve (NPDC), and secondly applying color management through the use of ICC (International Color Consortium) profiles to match device characteristics. (“GRACoL 7” pg 7) The goal to be achieved when using the G7 method for calibration is to enable a printer to not only match multiple devices in neutral grey areas, but also to generate a digital proof using non-standard colorants for repurposing to another print method using ICC profiles. Combining the model of G7 calibration plus ICC profiles promote decreased variation and better repeatability for print jobs.
The purpose of this study is to calibrate a flexography work-flow in the Graphic Communication Department at Cali-fornia Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo to meet the G7 calibration specifications. If the correct steps are followed to calibrate a digital flexographic plate-making system to match the G7 specification, it will balance grey tones using NPDC instead of TVI. This experiment will also match a print from a digital proofer that uses nonstan-dard colorants.
Research MethodThe first step to begin the process of calibrating using the G7 method is to print the test P2P target from the GRA-CoL Web site on the Mark Andy 2200 Flexo press. There are several predesigned test forms that GRACoL offers for anyone who wishes to calibrate using this method. How-ever, since the output device for this experiment is the Mark Andy 2200 Flexographic Press in the Cal Poly Graphic Communications Department Lab, and it is limited to a 7-inch width by 12-inch repeat, a new form will have to be designed using Adobe Illustrator CS2.
Designing the test formThe test form (Figure 1) used for this experiment will contain the necessary targets to build an accurate profile to represent the color capabilities of the press. Cal Poly already had a template featuring bearer bars, slur targets, and registration marks in vector form. The final test form contained the P2P targets from GRACoL, a stripe of 50%
23www.flexoglobal.comMarch 2009 FlexoGlobal
grey, a stripe of 50C, 40M, and 40Y, and a G7 colorbar. The G7 colorbar was in the following color sequence: K-C-M-Y-R-G-B-50%C-50%M-SC-HC. Included also were two raster-based images that are from ISO 300.
Equipment and Supply CheckA precheck was done to all equipment to confirm it was per-forming to the manufacturer’s default specifications. Time on the computer, plate-setter, and press were scheduled, and the pressrun involved Professor Malcolm Keif from the Graphic Communication Department. To achieve calibra-tion to the G7 specification, there were two pressruns—the first run to print from uncorrected or natural plates and the second printed with calibrated G7 corrected plates. Each press run was planned to last up to four hours. The ink se-quence for the print units calibration run was KCMY.
SuppliesSpecific supplies were obtained in order for a successful G7 calibration to take place—carbon masked flexographic plates compatible with the Esko CDI Spark and substrate paper stock in roll form sufficient for two separate press
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runs. Ink was donated by Water Ink Technologies that met the ISO 12647-6:2006 standard ink colorants in CMYK as well as some extender. The ink required to print the target on the Mark Andy 2200 7x12-inch flexo press was single pigment and water based. During the run, we used a copy of ISO 2846-5:2005, which is for Graphic technology – Color and transparency of printing ink sets for four-color printing – Part 5: Flexographic Printing in which to attain our L*a*b* values for color accuracy.
A handheld X-rite 528 spectrodensitometer was used to measure color targets as they came off the press. L*a*b* val-ues were taken throughout the run from each of the four CMYK bars until colorimetric values from ISO 2846-5 were reached. Once the targets were printed to specifica-tion, at least five needed to be read by the SpectroScan from GretagMacbeth using the ProfileMakerPro software pack-age. Profile data read from the targets was entered into the IDEAlink® software, which was used to average the data collected and return with a corrected Neutral Print Density Curve (NPDC).
The Calibration RunThe goal of the calibration run was to provide a control curve of the “natural” Neutral Print Density Curve of the press with this specific set of colorants and substrate combi-nation. The purpose of this run was to use the printed P2P target to build several ICC profiles averaged together using IDEALink software from the IDEAlliance. A successful run is defined as reaching colorimetric values within tol-erance of the specified L*a*b* values from ISO 2846-5 in CMYK.
Figure 2 – This table is from ISO 2846-5:2005 detailing the standard L*a*b* colorimetric values for CMYK
process for flexography. All measurements taken were compared to this table
ResultsPrepress and Platemaking
Figure 3 – In each of the colors, we were able to get within the colorimetric tolerances specified by ISO 2846-5. The
color stabilized around 200 impressions per hour and held making our run a success.
The process of making plates for the calibration run followed normal procedures. Our predesigned test targets were im-ported into Esko’s PackEdge software and normalized into a native GRS format. The line screen used was 150 lines per inch and a normal bump curve applied. Dot shape was set to circular and screen angles set at default C:8º, M:38º, Y:83º, and K:68º. Carbon mask photopolymer plate material was used from DuPont with dimensions 628mm x 589mm to be compatible with the CDI Spark to be used for expos-ing each separation. Plate-sheet size is also large enough to fit all four separations. The CDI Spark uses a 6-watt laser running at 480 RPM and exposure took about 30 minutes to image the four separations. Prior to laser exposure, the floor for the plate was set in the Cyrel Exposure unit for 21 seconds. After laser exposure, the plate sheet was put back in the Cyrel Exposure unit for 8 more minutes for finishing. Once the exposure process was completed, the sheet was put through the Cyrel Fast so the non-image areas could be wicked away leaving image relief behind. Post-processed plates were cut to size and mounted on press cylinders with medium sticky-back tape aligned by hand with a camera and video monitor system. Both relief and floor were mea-sured to be within tolerance for this system.
25www.flexoglobal.comMarch 2009 FlexoGlobal
First Press RunThe press was set up using control plates, G7 certified ISO colorants from Water Ink Technologies, in a typical KCMY unit order. These inks are single pigment and are formulat-ed specifically to meet ISO standards for the G7 process. Registration and impression was set by Dr. Keif manually, and we proceeded to take L*a*b* measurements with an X-rite 528 spectrodensitometer of each color as they came off the press. Each measurement was logged and analyzed by comparison to referenced values in ISO 2846-5. In the GRACoL 7 [6.4] (Figure 4) document is a table to help ad-just device-level grey balance. This table was the guide we used to extend or reduce the color on press so as to achieve ISO 2846-5 L*a*b* values.
Measuring and averaging the dataUsing the SpectroScan in the Electronic Publishing Lab (EPL) at Cal Poly, profiles were created from the P2P targets printed on the Mark Andy using ProfileMakerPro. With the help of Professor Brian Lawler, characterization data from the file P2P23_GMB_Reference_100206.txt, provided by Mark Mazur of DuPont, was imported and new profiles were output. Initially, we only profiled a single sample, but later did five more to average out the results. The profiles were input by Mark into the IDEALink software to gener-ate the corrected Neutral Print Density Curves to match the G7 specification.
Figure 4 – G7 Extender Chart showing how to move C, M and Y inks in response to +/- Lab errors.
Application of the NPDC CurvesThe process used to create the Neutral Print Density Curves for the calibrated plates is documented here.
• Appliedalinear+5.5%bumpcurveasareferencein order to analyze how the 10%, 25%, 50%, & 75% points were affected by the bump.
• UsingIntellicurvePro,thevaluesfromIDEALinkwere imported and a bump curve added to impact those numbers. The result of this meant K, at 1% became a 5.5% dot. The 25% was listed as 24.43% in IDEALink, but because the bump added 3.3% at the quartertone in the linear curve, resulting in that point being 27.73% (added bump affect to NPDC), I did that across the board. I used 1% (bump), 10%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% points and optimized/smooth the curve using 8 points as the smoothing value.
• Fourcurveswerebuiltandsavedintoa“DGCStrat-egy.”
• TheDGCStrategy(Automaticpresscurve)wasusedfor outputting to the CDI.
• Attemptedtouseamultipleeffect(bumpcurve+NPD curve) at the RIP, but did not get predictable results. A single combined curved gave improved pre-dictability.
• Finally,themaskwasmeasuredthroughScreenviewand then on the Betaflex, and measurements were in sync with a “good” set of flexo plates.
• Normalprocedureswerefollowedtoimagetheplateson the CDI Spark, and process on the Cyrel FAST. Plates were mounted using the same methods, materi-als, and equipment from the previous press run.
Printing with calibrated platesPrinting with the calibrated plates proved to be more of a challenge than anticipated. The press had not been used since the initial P2P target run, so there were no major ad-justments to be made. The challenge was to get the L*a*b* values within tolerance of the ISO 2846-5 values. Along with matching colorimetric values, close attention was paid to the 50C, 40M, 40Y bar on our print to monitor how close we were to achieving a visual match to the 50%K bar. Colorimetric values were within 6 Delta E for cyan and ma-genta, while yellow was 5 Delta E. This meant the prints were within tolerance of the ISO 2846-5 specification.
In attempting to get closer on the C and M values, the color values started cycling. Using ink extender to lower and uncut ink to increase L*a*b* values several times, it was concluded that the print was within tolerance of the ISO specification for this run. Were we to try to move beyond what was pro-
26 www.flexoglobal.com March 2009FlexoGlobal
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duced, it would likely mean the actual pigment of the ink would need to be modified. There were several cycles where what was seen could be concluded as a close enough “visual match” to the 50% K bar; however, visually it was not close enough, but it may have well been within the G7 spec.
ConclusionsComparing the test bars of 50C - 40M - 40Y from first run to the second, there was an obvious visible difference. The first press run with uncalibrated plates yielded an expected muddy CMY brown where the second looked much closer to gray. On the other hand, the second run test bar did not look exactly like the 50%K bar next to it, but still remained a closer “visual match.” There was also a metameric effect when viewed in the 5000K viewing booth, daylight, and the fluorescents in lab. The 50%K and CMY gray looked much
closer visually when under the 5000K and daylight. Both of the press targets were within ISO 2846-5 tolerances with regards to the specified CMYK L*a*b* values. The closer vi-sual match to gray from the second run proves this process can be used to balance gray using a combination of CMY that has calibrated Neutral Print Density curves applied.
There could be several reasons that the 50C - 40M - 40Y bar on the calibrated plates did not more closely resemble 50%K. Due to the way the Mark Andy is adjusted manually, this press has poor repeatability. There is potential for varia-tion in impression, speed, ink viscosity, weather, and opera-tor preferences. In addition, there is no color management system on the press, which complicates the issue because yellow is difficult to see, and impression is set completely visually. The ink fountains on the Mark Andy are exposed
Figure 5
27www.flexoglobal.comMarch 2009 FlexoGlobal
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and as the press is run, evaporation occurs, changing the ink viscosity. In this experiment, the inks from the first run were drained into clean plastic containers and stored for several weeks until the second run. This allowed the second run to be closer to the desired CMYK L*a*b* values at the start of the run. The ISO 2846-5 specification may also be too loose. Six Delta E is enough for some visual variance in a process such as this where tight color specifications are key. Another possibility is that the IDEALink Curve software is not correctly calculating the curves needed for balance. This theory was substantiated because in the yellow it gave nega-tive numbers that would indicate a dot below zero, which is not possible. Finally, the adjusted Neutral Print Density Curves were not applied correctly in prepress. This was the first time using this process on the software for the Cal Poly lab equipment. It is quite possible there is a better way, and we did not have the knowledge to use it.
According to Mark Mazur of FIRST and DuPont, if print-ers can agree on solid ink color, tone reproduction, and CMY gray equivalents instead of specifying one of the 4.3 billion possible color values, there will be a closer match to the color values in a digital image. Application of the G7 process to print devices could potentially mean that no mat-ter where you send your digital file, it will always be printed to look the same. Removing the arbitrary nature of the pre-
vious standards focused on dot gain (TVI) and craft-based print methods will bring those involved in the industry better repeatability, greater press predictability, simplified proof matching, and overall cost savings. Development to-wards finalizing G7 will only come with more testing and characterization data collected from studies such as this.
AcknowledgementsWater Ink Technologies: Supplied us with the inks needed to make this project happen. Thank you.
Mark Mazur of DuPont: The premiere expert on G7 and flexography standards. Thank you for all your input and comments so that we did this right.
References1. Abbott, Mary & McDowell, David. Standards for the Printing Publishing and Converting Industry (NPES). Vir-ginia: The Association of Printing Suppliers or Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies. 2005.
2. ANSI: Overview. American National Standards Institute. March 1 2007 <http://ansi.org/about_ansi/overview/>.
3. Gracol.org. “What is GRACoL?” Gracol.org: About GRACoL. 2006. 20 Oct. 2006. <http://www.gracol>.
Figure 6
29www.flexoglobal.comMarch 2009 FlexoGlobal
4. Gracol.org. “Quiz: Do you know the Difference Between GRACoL, GRACoL 7, and G7? GRACoL.org Resource Center. 2006. GRACoL 10 Oct. 2006. http://www.gracol.org/resources/quiz.asp
5. IDEAlliance. “Calibrating, Printing, and Proofing by the G7 Method, Version 6 August 2006.” International Digital Enterprise Alliance. 2006.
6. Institution Accreditation. U.S. Department of Educa-tion Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs. 18 April 2007. <http://www.ope.ed.gov/accreditation/>.
7. Introduction to GRACoL. Los Angeles: IDEAlliance, 2004.
8. Keif, Malcolm. Personal interview. March 23 2007.
9. “specification.” Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc.18 Apr. 2007. <Dictionary.comHY-PERLINK “http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/specification”http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/specification>.
10. “standards.” Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Ran-dom House, Inc.18 Apr. 2007. <Dictionary.comHY-PERLINK “http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/standards”http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/stan-dards>.
11. “standardization.” WordNet® 3.0. Princeton University. 18 Apr. 2007.<Dictionary.com HYPERLINK “http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/standardization”http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/standardization>.
12. Suffoletto, Steve. “GRACoL 7 is New and Will Change Your Prepress.” Rochester Institute of Technology. October 2006.
13. Vincent, Peter. “BPIF Puts Fogra & GRACoL colour calibration methods to the test” British Printing Industries Federation. July 2006. 26 Oct. 2006. http://www.british-print.com/news/article.asp?nid=1348
About the AuthorOriginally from the Los Angeles area, Michael Bayard graduated from Cal Poly with a BS in Graphic Commu-nication. Since graduation, he has pursued careers in print sales at Cenveo, and in eCommerce at Belkin, Inc., a major consumer electronics vendor. At Belkin, Michael collabo-rated with top-tier dotcom accounts such as Amazon.com, Buy.com, and Newegg.com. He currently lives in Los Ange-les with his wife and two children.
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To receive a special informational piece about Harper Cor-poration’s 30o Hexagon Channeling coating anilox roll, please contact Jazmin Kluttz at jkluttz@ harperimage.com or 704-588-3371.
Source: Harper Corporation Press Release
Kodak Completes Expansion of its Digital Plate Production Facility in Columbus, Ga.;
Opens Third Production Line
COLUMBUS, Ga., Feb. 24, 2009—In response to the strong demand for its digital plates throughout the Americas, Kodak
has completed the previously announced expansion of its digital plate production facility in Columbus, Georgia. Adding 26,000 square feet to the existing facility, Kodak is using this third production line to meet the digital plate supply needs of print service providers in a wide variety of markets, and to further its commitment to advancing digi-tal plate production processes and technologies.
33www.flexoglobal.comMarch 2009 FlexoGlobal
“It’s an exciting day for Kodak’s digital plate business and the people of Columbus,” said David Wigfield, General Manager, Prepress and Digital Printing, United States and Canada, Kodak. “Kodak is committed to investing in new digital plate technologies, and this expansion allows us to build on a sustained strategy of enhancing our digital plate presence in the Americas while serving our customers as the complete solutions provider for their growing digital plate needs.”
Kodak’s investment in the new production line totals ap-proximately $15 million and enables the company to more efficiently produce current and future generation digital plates. The increased plate production capacity will also bring additional employment opportunities to the greater Columbus area, and further establishes Kodak’s commit-ment to the community.
Kodak’s Columbus facility has 250 employees and now oc-cupies 276,000 square feet. The expansion of the facility al-lows Kodak to invest in the latest digital plate technologies and to further the development of next-generation plates.
Kodak celebrated the completion of the facility expansion with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, which was attended by local dignitaries and business leaders, including Georgia’s U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, Lt. Governor Casey Cagle, Columbus Mayor Jim Wetherington, and Mike Gaymon, President and CEO of the Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce.
First opened in 1990 by Sun Chemical for the production of Polychrome-branded printing plates, the Columbus facility has undergone several previous improvements to increase production quality and capacity. Kodak entered into a joint venture with Sun Chemical in 1998 to form KODAK POLYCHROME GRAPHICS, and in 2005 KODAK POLYCHROME GRAPHICS became a wholly owned subsidiary of Kodak. The facility currently produces a broad portfolio of conventional and digital plates includ-ing KODAK THERMAL PLATINUM Digital Plates, KODAK SWORD EXCEL Thermal Plates, KODAK NS Digital Newspaper Plates, KODAK THERMAL GOLD Digital Plates and KODAK NEWSWORTHY, KODAK WINNER GOLD and KODAK CRAFTSMAN Nega-
tive Plates. KODAK THERMAL PLATINUM Digital Plates are the premier choice for high quality, long run lengths and aggressive printing conditions.
Kodak’s leading plate portfolio includes flexographic, sheetfed and web offset printing solutions for commercial, newspaper, and packaging printers. Kodak commercialized thermal plates in 1995 with the introduction of the Direct Image Thermal Plate, and since then has led the way in in-novative computer-to-plate (CTP) solutions. For the pack-aging market, the KODAK FLEXCEL NX Digital Flexo-graphic System provides offset class print quality on a wide variety of substrates, including paper, flexible film, foil, and label stock.
Kodak’s printing plates are part of a full-solution portfolio, including a broad range of proofing choices and plateset-ters, as well as the widely accepted KODAK PRINERGY Workflow System. In proofing, Kodak offers digital half-tone, inkjet, virtual and analog proofing. In platesetting, customers can select equipment that leads the industry, in-cluding KODAK TRENDSETTER and KODAK MAG-NUS CTP Platesetters, using KODAK SQUARESPOT Imaging Technology to provide exceptionally high-resolu-tion images. In addition, KODAK STACCATO Screen-ing offers high fidelity, continuous-tone images that exhibit fine detail and an extended color gamut.
In addition to the digital plate production facility in Co-lumbus, Georgia, U.S., there are six other Kodak plate pro-duction facilities around the world, including: Osterode, Germany; Leeds, U.K.; Sofia, Bulgaria; Gunma, Japan; Windsor, Colorado, U.S.; and Xiamen, China.
About KodakAs the world’s foremost imaging innovator, Kodak helps consumers, businesses, and creative professionals un-leash the power of pictures and printing to enrich their lives. To learn more, visit www.kodak.com, and our blogs: 1000words.kodak.com, and 1000nerds.kodak.com.
Source: Kodak Press Release
34 www.flexoglobal.com March 2009FlexoGlobal
Sponsor News
FLXON’s Milestone Celebration Offer
February 2009 — To celebrate the milestone of having 500 G2™ ProPumps in service throughout North America, you can save up to $350 on a 2-5 pump purchase and up to $440 when you buy 6-10 pumps from now through March 31st.
Click on the pump photo to learn more about it’s problem-solving features.
If you’re frustrated with pump related down time, tired of spending money on pump parts and want to end the ago-nizing cycle of fixing what needs to be replaced, now is the time to call.
G2™ ProPump• DualHeads-Singledecksupply&returnor
multi-deck supply with gravity return• Low/nomaintenanceorrebuilds• Frontauto-loadhosefeaturereducesinkstarva-
tion & hose fatigue• Reduce/eliminatespumprelateddowntime
This offer ends soon so place your order today.
Source: FLXON Press Release
New Video Demonstration Available on Troika Plate-II-Print
See Troika Systems and The Provident Group at FTA InfoFlex booth 322
February 19, 2009 — Troika Sys-tems Limited and The Provident Group at the forefront of innova-tive development for print-based
quality control products, announces expanded capability and a new video demonstration on the Plate-II-Print dot measurement system.
Plate-II-PrintThe portable hand held Plate-II-Print is the most inexpen-sive tool for the flexographic industry to check dot sizes on masks, plates and finished printed copy quickly and effi-ciently. It has been one of the star products for Troika dur-ing the past year, and feedback from both printers and and trade shops has led the company to incorporate significant enhancements that allow presses to be fingerprinted and the characterisation data archived for future comparison and analysis. This exceedingly powerful enhancement will ensure that Plate-II-Print wins even more fans.
The entire range of capabilities can now be viewed from the comfort of your own office. Just click on the following link and turn your speakers on!
http://www.troika-systems.com/Presentations/P2P.html
The small navigation icon at the top of the page allows you to jump to specific points of interest like measuring film or plates or measuring printed dots or screen angles and dis-tances.
Plate-II-Print is so portable it can easily be taken right out for press side analysis. Dots can be inspected at any location on the printing plate; you are not limited to checking just the outer edges. You can also measure dots on flat plates or mounted on the cylinder. The system also works on metal backed materials and elastomers.
The Plate-II-Print system complements the entire line of in-novative quality inspections products from Troika Systems namely FlexoCAM, AniCAM and GravureCAM. All the
35www.flexoglobal.comMarch 2009 FlexoGlobal
and eliminates costs, while collaboration tools are provided to facilitate communication with customers.
EskoArtwork ensures seamless file exchange between editor and workflow platforms, and users of the various solutions can have confidence that they will work in any EskoArt-work solution. For example, Nexus and Odystar can now take advantage of EskoArtwork tools that are integrated with their current workflow and proofing systems to con-siderably increase their productivity. Nexus can also inte-grate with BackStage, allowing users to take advantage of the powerful BackStage server to maximize productivity, repeatability and consistency.
Expertise in packagingFor brand owners, converters and trade shops, EskoArt-work will demonstrate software solutions for: package design, prepress, workflow automation and integration, output control, collaboration and approval. This includes an updated BackStage; the updated version 9.0 of ArtPro, Studio, putting interactive 3D packaging creation in the hands of designers, and Visualizer, which takes graphic information of a label or package, adds information about substrates, special inks and finishes, and delivers a variety of realistic moving, interactive 2D and 3D representations of the final product. At the show EskoArtwork will demon-strate version 7.4 of ArtiosCAD, the world’s most popular structural design software for packaging design.
Digital flexoEskoArtwork has been driving the development of digital flexo for more than 10 years, and continues to set the stan-dards in flexo quality and productivity for packaging and labels. The Digital Flexo Suite is a software solution tar-geted at flexo plate room operations with the objective of complete automation of flexo plate production. The collec-tion of EskoArtwork’s plate making software, designed spe-cifically for the imaging requirements of the label and tag industry, offers significant cost savings through automated flexo plate optimization, particularly when used along with an Esko Cyrel Digital Imager (CDI) flexo plate setter and an Esko Kongsberg cutting table.
About EskoArtworkEskoArtwork is a global supplier and integrator of innova-tive solutions for packaging, commercial printing, sign and display finishing and professional publishing. Its products
Troika products will be in operation at the upcoming FFTA InfoFlex at booth number 322.
For further information on Troika Systems quality control products visit www.providentgrp.com or www.troika-sys-tems.com. Contact Dave Allen of The Provident Group at 603-230-9680.
Source: Provident Group Press Release
EskoArtwork Showcases Comprehensive Range of Workflow Solutions at Gulf Pack/
Gulf Print
Gent (Belgium), February 2009 – EskoArtwork will present at Gulf Pack / Gulf Print, held in Dubai from April 6 till 9 2009,
its comprehensive range of workflow solutions that enables commercial printers and packaging companies to operate more efficiently. In printing today, successful companies continuously push the limits of efficiency and strive to adopt the best operational practices to create value and re-main competitive. It is EskoArtwork’s mission to support customers in connecting the systems, the software and the hardware, as well as the people and information assets avail-able to them and effectively make them work together these into high-performance workflows.
Walter Dhooge, EskoArtwork’s EMEA Sales Manager is excited about the show: “Gulf Print has always been a great show for EskoArtwork, as it combines both printing and packaging solutions under one banner and has become one of the leading exhibitions in this region. The Middle East is an important market for EskoArtwork and we welcome the opportunity to present to visitors our broad range of workflow solutions.”
EskoArtwork is partnering up with their distributor ITM and will present on booth W480.
Commercial printing software solutionEskoArtwork’s comprehensive commercial printing solu-tions provide excellence in quality, job turnaround and cost efficiency. Workflow automation technology reduces errors
36 www.flexoglobal.com March 2009FlexoGlobal
Sponsor News
and services help customers raise productivity, reduce time-to-market, lower costs and expand business. EskoArtwork is the worldwide market leader with pre-production and collaboration software for packaging buyers, designers and manufacturers. The CDI flexo computer-to-plate imagers, Kongsberg short-run converting and signage finishing sys-tems complete the portfolio for the packaging, label, sig-nage and display industries. The company also provides a range of workflow solutions for the commercial printing and publishing market, as well as the Enfocus suite of PDF tools for graphic designers and print production profession-als. EskoArtwork employs around 900 people worldwide. Its global sales and support organization covers Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and Japan, and is completed by a network of distribution partners in more than 40 countries. EskoArtwork is headquartered in Gent, Belgium, and has R&D and manufacturing facilities in 5 European countries, the United States and in India. The consolidated full year revenue for 2007 amounted to EUR 170 million, with an EBITDA of EUR 30 million.
For more information, visit www.esko.com
Source: EskoArtwork Press Release
New York Company Rescues California Flexo Printers with its Line of California
Compliant Products
Bellport, N.Y. - Environmentally conscious flexographic ink-cleaning company FlexoCleaners.com has done it again. The East Coast Company has solved a problem that many flexographic printers in California have to face every day: effectively cleaning Flexo inks from anilox rolls and Flexo presses while complying with the new rule im-posed on printers in the Southern California Air Quality Management District (SCQQMD. Rule 1171 states that, as of January 1, 2008, every flexographic printer in the SCQQMD must use pressroom cleaners containing less than 100 grams per liter of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). FlexoCleaners.com has made switching to these low-VOC, California-compliant cleaners a fast, easy and an inexpensive choice.
Before changing to a low-VOC alternative cleaner, it is im-portant to understand how VOCs are defined and what the environmental concerns are. The EPA defines VOCs as any carbon compound (excluding carbon monoxide, carbon di-oxide, carbonic acid, metallic carbides or carbonates, and ammonium carbonate) that participates in atmospheric photochemical reactions. VOCs are organic compounds with vapor pressures that are high enough under normal conditions to significantly vaporize and enter the atmo-sphere. In layman’s terms, VOCs contribute to the forma-tion of ozone, which adversely affects human health and the growth of vegetation and causes destruction to man-made structures.
A list of the 190 VOCs is available on the FlexoCleaners.com Website at www.flexocleaners.com/Data/VOC.pdf
“Many flexographic ink cleaning companies stress their earth-friendly products – meanwhile, their products still contain the dangerous solvents and surfactants the EPA and other organizations fight so hard against,” says FlexoClean-ers.com President Joseph Ialacci. “It is our job as leaders in the flexographic industry to supply products that not only meet the needs of our customers, but which adhere to all regulations, while protecting the environment and health and safety of our workers,” adds Ialacci. FlexoCleaners.com was also pleased to learn that a number of customers report-ed back to the company that the new formulations clean even better than other, more aggressive and caustic prod-ucts they previously used.
Through the FlexoCleaners.com Web site you can now re-quest a FREE consultation on eliminating VOCs used in your pressroom. In order to receive this FREE consultation, please fill in the form found at www.flexocleaners.com/eliminatevocs/index.asp or call 888-Flexocleaners (888-353-9625), or 631-345-5222 (outside USA) to schedule your no-cost consultation. And be sure to visit www.flexo-cleaners.com/voc-and-rule-1171.asp to read more about VOCs and Rule 1171.
Established in 1973, FlexoCleaners.com is a leading manu-facturer of environmentally friendly, chemically superior flexographic ink cleaners. FlexoCleaners.com has been helping Flexographic printers lower their VOC emissions and become environmentally compliant through safer clean-
37www.flexoglobal.comMarch 2009 FlexoGlobal
ing products and free VOC consultations. FlexoCleaners.com is a socially responsible organization and contributes a portion of every sale to environmental charities, such as 1% for the Planet, Co-Op America and Union of Concerned Scientists. They have recently received recognition from the EPA as a Partner in the Design for the Environment Pro-gram’s Safer Detergents Stewardship Initiative (SDSI).
You can find the industry’s largest selection of ink clean-ers at their fast, secure Website: www.flexocleaners.com. The FlexoCleaners.com site is packed with helpful Flexo resources, time-saving tools and educational, environmen-tally-based articles. You can also call them directly at their easy–to-remember, toll-free number, 1-888-FlexoCleaners (888-353-9625) or outside the USA at 631-345-5222.
Source: Flexocleaners.com press release
EskoArtwork Takes Print & Packaging Efficiencies on the Road for a Nine-City Tour
EskoArtwork’s Spring 2009 Innovative Solutions learning seminars to focus on efficiency improvements for packaging, commercial print and signs & display
production.
Vandalia, OH (USA), February 2009 - In printing today, success-ful companies continuously push the limits of efficiency and strive
to adopt the best operational practices to create value and remain competitive. EskoArtwork helps its customers by bringing together all the systems, the software and the hard-ware, people and information assets and effectively connect these into high-performance workflows. To that end, Es-koArtwork announces its series of Spring 2009 Innovative Solutions learning seminars, conducted from March 10 to April 9 at nine cities throughout the US. Attendees will learn how in each step in the production workflow they can raise productivity, reduce time-to-market, lower costs and expand business.
“EskoArtwork is very much aware that times are tough for everyone and there are budget constraints on travel,” ex-plains Carrie Conard, EskoArtwork VP, marketing and op-erations. “It’s why we decided to hold local one-day events
where we’re coming to our customers; where printers and brand owners can spend some time with us without the stress and cost of long-distance travel.”
Each Roadshow event will feature product management executives from EskoArtwork headquarters in Europe-all technical and user-oriented experts. Reflecting the broad expertise throughout all facets of printing, seminar con-tent contains valuable information for manufacturers in any packaging or commercial print market segment, in two separate tracks. Sessions have been developed that assure visitors who are able to attend for only half a day will still benefit.
The printing track includes topics covering full solutions overviews for commercial print, and sign & display. Ses-sions for packaging cover packaging prepress tools, work-flow automation and collaboration, and color management and proofing.
Event schedule and registrationThe free events are scheduled for:
• LosAngeles:DoubleTree,Commerce,CA,March10 (3rd track for brand owners this event, only)
• Orlando:CrownPlazaOrlandoUniversal,March12
• Boston:SturbridgeHostHotel&ConferenceCenter, March 16
• NYC/Philadelphia:DoubletreeGuestSuites,Mt.Laurel, NJ, March 19
• Cincinnati:CincinnatiMarriottatRiverCenterMarch 24
• Chicago:HiltonIndianLakesResort,March25• St.Louis:AirportMarriottLambert/Sheraton
Westport, March 26• Dallas:SheratonSuitesMarketCenter,April7• Minneapolis:MarriottMinneapolisWest,St.
Louis Park, MN, April 9Anyone interested in registering for one of these upcoming seminars can visit www.esko.com/roadshows2009. Guests are also invited to e-mail [email protected] or call 413-583-4100. Attendees will receive full details of seminar lo-cations after registering. Lunch is provided.
38 www.flexoglobal.com March 2009FlexoGlobal
Sponsor News
About EskoArtworkEskoArtwork is a global supplier and integrator of innova-tive solutions for packaging, commercial printing, sign and display finishing and professional publishing. Its products and services help customers raise productivity, reduce time-to-market, lower costs and expand business. EskoArtwork is the worldwide market leader with pre-production and collaboration software for packaging buyers, designers and manufacturers. The CDI flexo computer-to-plate imagers, Kongsberg short-run converting and signage finishing sys-tems complete the portfolio for the packaging, label, sig-nage and display industries. The company also provides a range of workflow solutions for the commercial printing and publishing market, as well as the Enfocus suite of PDF tools for graphic designers and print production profession-als. EskoArtwork employs around 900 people worldwide. Its global sales and support organization covers Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and Japan, and is completed by a network of distribution partners in more than 40 countries. EskoArtwork is headquartered in Gent, Belgium, and has R&D and manufacturing facilities in 5 European countries, the United States and in India. The consolidated full year revenue for 2007 amounted to EUR 170 million, with an EBITDA of EUR 30 million.
For more information, visit www.esko.com
Source: EskoArtwork Press Release
2009 Harper Flexographic Solutions Tour Coming to a City Near You!
Charlotte, N.C., February 6, 2009 – Harper GraphicSolu-tions, the technical service division of global anilox supplier Harper Corporation, is pleased to announce the schedule for the 2009 Harper Flexographic Solutions Tour™.
Once again, the Harper GraphicSolutions team has invited co-suppliers and other industry experts to join it for a series of FREE one-day seminars that focus on trouble-shooting pre-press and print room problem areas, and cover the lat-est technologies and techniques to improve print quality
and press efficiency. The dates, cities and venues for this year’s tour follow:
Rochester, NY - Wed. April 15, 2009 Rochester Institute of Technology 66 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623 St. Louis, MO - Thurs. June 11, 2009 Drury Plaza Chesterfield 355 Chesterfield Center East, St Louis, MO 63017Denver, CO - Wed. August 19, 2009 Embassy Suites Denver Tech Center 10250 East Costilla Avenue, Centennial, CO 80012Louisville, KY - Tues. Sept. 22, 2009 Hilton Garden Inn Louisville Airport 2735 Crittenden Drive, Louis-ville, KY 40209Appleton, WI – Wed. Oct. 14, 2009 Fox Valley Tech-nical College 5 Systems Drive, DJ Bordini Center, Appleton, WI 54913
There is no charge for these one-day seminars, and business-es may send an unlimited number of staff members. Early registration is recommended due to limited seating.
Sessions are designed for print managers; print supervi-sors; operators; pre-press managers; graphic designers; ink, plate and pre-press suppliers; and purchasing and/or gen-eral managers. Specific seminars will vary by locations, but sample topics include:
• Troubleshootingdie-cuttingissues• Pressinputsforsuccess• Pre-presspracticestocontrolcolormanagement• Producingpredictableandreproducibleflexo• Rotarydieselectionandoperations• Inkhandlingforpaperandfilm• Platemounting• Theaffectofsubstratedifferencesontheprinting
processAnd of course, plenty of time is allotted for answering audi-ence questions.
To register, please contact Jazmin Kluttz at jkluttz@ harp-erimage.com.
Source: Harper Corporation Press Release
39www.flexoglobal.comMarch 2009 FlexoGlobal
— the place to be listed, whether you’re a flexographic printer, print buyer, supplier, trade association, consultant, or educator.
Simply visit:http://www.flexoglobal.com/flexoguideform.htm
orfill out the form below and mail it to:
FlexoGlobal, 7580 Salmon Creek Road, Williamson, NY 14589-9510
Company Information:
Company Name:
Main Address:
City, State, Zip, Country & Postal Code:
Phone: Fax:
E-mail: Web Site:
Sign-Off:Print your Name and Title:
Signature: Date:
FlexoGlobal’s Resource Guide
q anilox rollsq consultantsq consumer product companiesq educational institutionsq environmental equipment &
servicesq equipment manufacturersq graphic design services
q inks, pigments, coatingsq mounting tapesq packaging printer/convertersq plate manufacturersq prepress servicesq prepress softwareq press manufacturers q product/speciality printers
q quality inspection equipmentq substrate supplierq supplies & servicesq testing equipment manufacturerq transportationq workflowmanagement
What Company Does: Our company offers the following products and/or services . . . (100 words maximum)
Company Category:
FlexoGlobalTM
40 www.flexoglobal.com March 2009FlexoGlobal
Sponsor News
EskoArtwork Provides Solutions for All Printers at Graphics of the Americas
Focus on automated workflows and sign & display solu-tions for US and Latin American printers - booth 476
Gent (Belgium), February 2009 - EskoArtwork presents at Graphics of the Americas Expo-sition and Conference, the pre-
mier trade show for the printing and publishing industry for North, Central and South America and the Caribbean (February 26-28, in Miami). On booth 476, the company will demonstrate its complete solutions portfolio that en-ables commercial printers, packaging and sign companies operate more efficiently. EskoArtwork helps its customers bring together the systems, software and hardware, as well as the people and available information assets in order to ef-fectively connect these into high-performance workflows.
“Graphics of the Americas is the largest show in the U.S. supporting Latin America-particularly the Caribbean, Central America and the northernmost areas of South America,” explains Aleks Zlatic, EskoArtwork’s Regional Sales Manager for Latin America. “EskoArtwork has a strong presence in these areas, and we want to assure them that they are important to us. It will be the first time they are able to see the most recent EskoArtwork solutions in action, and how well our software integrate seamlessly with one another.” EskoArtwork will have a full suite of the most sophisticated packaging production automation software as well as a full complement of end-to-end solutions for com-mercial printers.
Commercial printing software solutions: plugged into ev-erything
EskoArtwork’s comprehensive commercial printing solu-tions provide excellence in quality, job turnaround and cost efficiency. Workflow automation technology reduces errors and eliminates costs, while collaboration tools are provided to facilitate communication with customers.
EskoArtwork ensures seamless file exchange between editor and workflow platforms, and users of the various solutions can have confidence that they will work in any EskoArtwork solution. For example, Nexus and Odystar can now take
advantage of EskoArtwork tools that are integrated with their current workflow and proofing systems to consider-ably increase their productivity. The result is an extremely robust workflow with an exceptional number of options for any commercial printer. Nexus can also integrate with BackStage, allowing users to take advantage of the powerful BackStage server to maximize productivity, repeatability and consistency.
Expertise in packagingFor brand owners, converters and trade shops, EskoArtwork will demonstrate all of the software it is renowned for: pack-age design, prepress, workflow automation and integration, output control, collaboration and approval. This includes an updated BackStage; the updated version 9.0 of ArtPro, seamlessly integrated into the EskoArtwork solutions port-folio; Studio, putting interactive 3D packaging creation in the hands of designers, and Visualizer, which takes graphic information of a label or package, adds information about substrates, special inks and finishes, and delivers a variety of realistic moving, interactive 2D and 3D representations of the final product. EskoArtwork will demonstrate version 7.4 of ArtiosCAD, the world’s most popular structural de-sign software for packaging design.
Digital flexoEskoArtwork has been driving the development of digital flexo for more than 10 years, and continues to set the stan-dards in flexo quality and productivity for packaging and labels. The Digital Flexo Suite is a software solution tar-geted at flexo plate room operations with the objective of complete automation of flexo plate production. The collec-tion of EskoArtwork’s plate making software, designed spe-cifically for the imaging requirements of the label and tag industry, offers significant cost savings through automated flexo plate optimization, particularly when used along with an Esko Cyrel Digital Imager (CDI) flexo plate setter and an Esko Kongsberg cutting table.
Printing partners bringing the hardwareIntermarket Co., master distributor of EskoArtwork prod-ucts in Central America and the Caribbean, will be bring-ing an Esko CDI Spark 4835 flexo plate imager to its book, #940. The CDI Spark 4835 images digital flexo plates up to 48” x 35”, which is perfect for small and medium volume label and folding carton flexo plate makers and converters.
Balancing Between
Change and Tradition
Visit GravurExchangeTM Web Shop at http://gravurexchange.com/store/page2.html order your copy today !http://www.rit.edu/~gravure/
Balancing Between
Change and Tradition
RIT’s latest collaborative effort exploring the use of scientific method for color imaging & process control.
Given that change is essential, change itself does not always lead to better outcome. On the other hand, ‘more of the same’ or ‘tradition’ is not necessarily a bad thing. ‘Change’ or ‘more of the same’ also frequently surfaced when contemplating what to include in Test Targets 7.0. Test Targets 7.0 contains three broad sections: Articles, Gallery of Visual Interest (GVI), and Test Forms. In this edition of GVI showcases, we explored the synergy between graphic design and print with the idea of folded panels. The Folded panels not only provide extra ‘real estate’ for printed matter, but also support graphic design and communication in an interesting manner. Now
Available
Test Targets
7.0
42 www.flexoglobal.com March 2009FlexoGlobal
Sponsor News
Nearby, at booth 992, Hewlett-Packard will be bringing an HP Indigo digital press. HP Indigo front-end label and packaging production printing tools were created through collaboration with EskoArtwork.
Kongsberg i-XE: Automated digital finishing table for signs and displays
At Graphics of the Americas, users can see the Kongsberg i-XE10 in action, one of a new range of automated digi-tal finishing systems offering a fast, productive solution for digital finishing of signs and displays. The table can handle kiss and through cutting of vinyl, polycarbonate, polyester, polypropylene, carton and more, up to single wall corru-gated material. The Kongsberg i-XE10 can accept materi-als as large as 35.4” x 47.2”. Those interested in finishing signs and large displays choose the Kongsberg i-XE10 table with small-lot production in mind, achieving a fully digital workflow that saves the cost and waiting time for a cutting die.
A speed racer keeps up with Kongsberg i-XE10 perfor-mance
Guy Caputo, professional land speed racer and holder of the world speed record (210 mph) with his 1397 nitrous jets Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle, will be demonstrating the record-breaking speed and performance of the Kongsberg table. Mr. Caputo will be signing personal racing pictures cut on the Kongsberg table.
“If a commercial printer, package or sign printer is serious about workflow solutions, he cannot afford not to visit the EskoArtwork booth,” concludes Aleks Zlatic. “While many companies may think only of our heritage in packaging, they forget the depth of experience we have in other areas.”
About EskoArtworkEskoArtwork is a global supplier and integrator of innova-tive solutions for packaging, commercial printing, sign and display finishing and professional publishing. Its products and services help customers raise productivity, reduce time-to-market, lower costs and expand business. EskoArtwork is the worldwide market leader with pre-production and collaboration software for packaging buyers, designers and manufacturers. The CDI flexo computer-to-plate imagers, Kongsberg short-run converting and signage finishing sys-
tems complete the portfolio for the packaging, label, sig-nage and display industries. The company also provides a range of workflow solutions for the commercial printing and publishing market, as well as the Enfocus suite of PDF tools for graphic designers and print production profession-als. EskoArtwork employs around 900 people worldwide. Its global sales and support organization covers Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and Japan, and is completed by a network of distribution partners in more than 40 countries. EskoArtwork is headquartered in Gent, Belgium, and has R&D and manufacturing facilities in 5 European countries, the United States and in India. The consolidated full year revenue for 2007 amounted to EUR 170 million, with an EBITDA of EUR 30 million.
For more information, visit www.esko.com
Source: EskoArtwork Press Release
Kodak Expands Color Gamut, Enhances Quality with New Suite of KODAK
APPROVAL Packaging Color Donors
New donors help designers, package printers, and converters match the final products
ROCHESTER, N.Y., Feb. 10, 2009 — Three new KODAK APPROVAL Packaging Color Donors enable users to achieve
more accurate spot, corporate, and brand colors in a wide range of packaging applications. Developed by Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group (GCG) to expand the color gamut of KODAK APPROVAL Digital Color Imag-ing Systems, the new donors deliver the results packaging professionals demand.
Used to create package design proofs and 3-D mock-ups with appearance identical to the final product on the store shelf, the new donors can enhance productivity by reducing the number of color donor imaging passes or roll changes. Particularly when combined with KODAK APPROVAL Digital White Donor and KODAK APPROVAL Digital Metallic Donor, users are able to produce proofs and pack-age design comps on the actual packaging substrates with the vivid colors employed in modern packaging.
43www.flexoglobal.comMarch 2009 FlexoGlobal
“Brand colors are extremely critical in the packaging are-na,” explained John Cross, General Manager, Packaging Products, Prepress Solutions, Kodak’s GCG. “Designers, package printers, and converters must be able to accurately proof these colors before committing a job to press, and we are always working to make that process more seamless and predictable. These new donors take our current offerings to the next level and are designed to help our customers bet-ter meet the demand for the vibrant colors used in today’s competitive consumer packaging market.”
The KODAK APPROVAL Digital Color Imaging System is a true digital halftone color proofing system, achieving color through successive laser imaging of cyan, magenta, yellow, black, orange, green and blue color donor materials. Kodak’s current color donor materials can achieve accurate color for publication and commercial printing, but some package designs require the expanded gamut of these new color donor materials.
“Using the new KODAK Donors has allowed us to achieve a much larger color space,” said Jason Nelson, Corporate Prepress Manager, OEC Graphics, Oshkosh, Wis. “The new donors also are cleaner, enabling us to produce a larger color library. We now are able to achieve closer proofing-to-press profile matches than ever before.”
The new products are available immediately under the names KODAK APPROVAL Digital Magenta Donor / DM05, KODAK APPROVAL Digital Yellow Donor / DY05, and KODAK APPROVAL Digital Blue Donor / DB02.
KODAK Products are backed by KODAK Service and Support. KODAK Service and Support is made up of more than 3,000 professionals reaching more than 120 countries. It is a leading multi vendor integrated services provider, delivering consulting, installation, maintenance and sup-port services for the commercial printing, graphic commu-nications, document imaging and data storage industries. KODAK Service and Support professionals are uniquely qualified to provide services that control costs, maximize productivity, and minimize business risk.
About KodakAs the world’s foremost imaging innovator, Kodak helps consumers, businesses, and creative professionals un-
leash the power of pictures and printing to enrich their lives. To learn more, visit www.kodak.com, and our blogs: 1000words.kodak.com, and 1000nerds.kodak.com.
Source: Kodak Press Release
President & Mrs. Obama dance on a Custom-Built Circular Stage with a Faux-
Finish Design Cut on an EskoArtwork Kongsberg i-XL
Presidential inauguration gets a helping hand from Kongsberg
Gent (Belgium), February 11, 2009 - Few people watching the inauguration of Barack Obama as 44th President of the United
States would have realized the role EskoArtwork’s Kongs-berg i-XL played in the proceedings. For Hargrove Inc, a management firm for special events, custom exhibits and trade show services which has been a major contractor for every presidential inauguration since 1949, time was of the essence. The company had seven days to provide all the services for the inauguration: ten balls, three dinners, seven floats and many other events which entailed 44 sepa-rate jobs in 34 different venues over six days. Most of the decorations used in these events were printed on a Vutek QS3200 large format printer and cut on an EskoArtwork Kongsberg i-XL.
Hargrove CEO Tim McGill said: “It was extremely gratify-ing to be able to fabricate some of the unusual components for major Inaugural events like the concert at the Lincoln Memorial and the Neighborhood Ball.” Hargrove pro-duced a 10,000-square-foot floor for the performers at the Lincoln Memorial as well as the faux walls used to hide the scaffolding, some 22-feet tall, and the moveable walls that closed and opened to allow for set changes.
“At the Neighborhood Ball, President and Mrs. Obama had their first dance on a custom-built circular stage with a faux finish applied by local artisans,” McGill said. The company also produced its largest Presidential Inaugural Seal ever for the Neighborhood Ball. “Normally, we produce hundreds of inaugural seals ranging from 30 inches to 12 feet,” he
44 www.flexoglobal.com March 2009FlexoGlobal
Sponsor News
said. “For the Neighborhood Ball, we produced a wooden, three-dimensional seal 16-feet in diameter.”
Kongsberg table with i-cut vision system saves the dayFred Strickland, director of production at Hargrove Inc., said: “The EskoArtwork Kongsberg i-XL with i-cut vision system saved the day. It allowed us to cut all of the items we printed without any effort at all. We are proud of what we have been able to accomplish.”
The Kongsberg i-XL is a die-less cutting and creasing table that delivers record-breaking productivity and versatility. It perfectly complements digital printing of sign and dis-plays with unique finishing solutions on the widest range of materials, providing automation, high productivity and outstanding precision. Printed signs and displays can be custom-shaped right on the finishing table. The i-cut vision system makes sure that finishing is adapted to the shape of the graphics, which guarantees a cut contour that perfectly matches the printed graphics. The shaping itself, like con-tour cutting, follows the graphics exactly as created by the printer.
Mark Quinlan, President EskoArtwork North America, comments: “We are extremely pleased and honored to have contributed to the success of President Obama’s in-auguration events. There were considerable time pressures placed on Hargrove, but we knew they could rely on our outstanding line of cutting tables—particularly with their automated digital finishing. Our tables are equipped with a versatile set of tools that can cut and crease heavy-duty ma-terials used in a wide variety of new, emerging applications for signs and displays. We are certain, as Hargrove created
its many graphic displays, that it benefited from the Kongs-berg table’s ability to work with a very diverse range of sub-strates, from textiles to heavy-duty re-board materials. They are an outstanding investment for the digital printer who is searching for a profitable and productive finishing solution for short run jobs.”
About Hargrove Inc.The company employs 200 full-time workers, a number that increased to more than 700 during the Presidential In-augural preparations. The facility includes a 35,000-square-foot fabrication shop, 5,000-square-foot paint shop, 4,400-square-foot art shop, 24,000-square-foot computer shopw, 25 all-weather loading docks, 135,000-squarefoot warehouse, and complete design studio. The event, trade show and exhibit company provides nationwide service from its Lanham, Md. Headquarters. For more information about Hargrove, visit www.hargroveinc.com.
About EskoArtworkEskoArtwork is a global supplier and integrator of innova-tive solutions for packaging, commercial printing, sign and display finishing and professional publishing. Its products and services help customers raise productivity, reduce time-to-market, lower costs and expand business. EskoArtwork is the worldwide market leader with pre-production and collaboration software for packaging buyers, designers and manufacturers. The CDI flexo computer-to-plate imagers, Kongsberg short-run converting and signage finishing sys-tems complete the portfolio for the packaging, label, sig-nage and display industries. The company also provides a range of workflow solutions for the commercial printing and publishing market, as well as the Enfocus suite of PDF tools for graphic designers and print production profession-als. EskoArtwork employs around 900 people worldwide. Its global sales and support organization covers Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and Japan, and is completed by a network of distribution partners in more than 40 countries. EskoArtwork is headquartered in Gent, Belgium, and has R&D and manufacturing facilities in 5 European countries, the United States and in India. The consolidated full year revenue for 2007 amounted to EUR 170 million, with an EBITDA of EUR 30 million.
Source: EskoArtwork Press Release
45www.flexoglobal.comMarch 2009 FlexoGlobal
Kodak Recognized for Global Sustainable Business Practices
ROCHESTER, N.Y., Feb. 9 -- For the fifth straight year, East-man Kodak Company has been named to the listing of “Global
100 Most Sustainable Corporations” compiled by Corpo-rate Knights Inc. with Innovest Strategic Value Advisors.
Over the last year, Kodak has received recognition from at least six leading third parties for its global sustainable busi-ness practices.
Kodak is listed once again on both the Dow Jones Sustain-ability Index (DJSI) and FTSE4Good Index. The DJSI listing is based on a thorough annual review of corporate economic, environmental and social performance. The FTSE4Good is a system designed to give investors a global standard for comparing environmental and social perfor-mance of companies that qualify for listing on the London-based FTSE Index. It is the seventh year in a row that Kodak has been listed on both indices.
Among the other recognitions received by Kodak over the last year are:
• Listinginseveralsociallyresponsibleinvestmentindices by financial market research firm KLD Re-search & Analytics. For inclusion, companies must meet rigid standards in the areas of social, environ-mental and corporate governance performance.
• InclusioninTheBostonCollegeCenterforCor-porate Citizenship and Reputation Institute’s Top 50 ranking of leading global companies for public perception of corporate social responsibility.
• SpecialCitationfromtheU.S.DepartmentofState for support and participation in the Business Roundtable’s initiative for environmental steward-ship and social responsibility.
In addition, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently gave an “Energy Star” designation to Kodak’s Rochester headquarters office complex. The Energy Star designation for offices is used to recognize superior energy
management practices. In its review, the EPA indicated that the Kodak office complex utilizes 33% less energy than an average similar facility.
“These multiple recognitions are very gratifying validation of Kodak’s commitment to sustainability,” said David M. Kiser, Kodak Vice President and Director of Health, Safety, Environment and Sustainability. “This commitment is also evidenced in the Corporate Responsibility Principles that serve as our strategic guide in this area, while our Respon-sible Growth Goals set measurable objectives.”
Kiser noted that the Responsible Growth Goals include specific objectives for social responsibility, product respon-sibility and operations responsibility. Among them are tar-gets for reductions in energy use and greenhouse gas emis-sions. Kodak estimates that by year-end 2008, it achieved reductions of 40% in each of those areas since 2002.
More information about Kodak’s commitment and prog-ress can be found in the Global Sustainability pages of Kodak’s website. The Kodak Global Sustainability Report is also found at this site.
About KodakAs the world’s foremost imaging innovator, Kodak helps consumers, businesses, and creative professionals un-leash the power of pictures and printing to enrich their lives. To learn more, visit www.kodak.com, and our blogs: 1000words.kodak.com, and 1000nerds.kodak.com.
Source: Kodak Web Site
46 www.flexoglobal.com March 2009FlexoGlobal
Sponsor News
Joint Venture in Gravure: The Leading Manufacturers of Gravure Cylinder-Making
Equipment Join Forces
January 23, 2009 — Peter Daetwyler, owner of the MDC Max Daetwyler Group and Max Rid, owner of the compa-nies Hell Gravure Systems, K. Walter, and Bauer Logistik unite their activities in developing, manufacturing, selling, after sales, and service of gravure cylinder making equip-ment. By unifying their enterprises they will now be able to offer the full spectrum of technologies as seamlessly inte-grated systems, which will enhance the competitiveness of the gravure process. This joint venture was effective January 1, 2009.
Max Rid and Peter Daetwyler have founded a new corpo-ration with the name Heliograph Holding GmbH for this purpose. From now on this holding company will be home to the newly founded Daetwyler Graphics as well as the corporations Hell Gravure Systems, K.Walter, Bauer Lo-gistik, Schepers, Daetwyler R&D Dayton and their world wide sister companies. Within the new holding structure these sister companies will continue to distribute Daetwy-ler doctor blades and diamonds.
Max Rid will head Heliograph Holding as Chief Executive Officer. Additional officers of the holding corporation will be the CEOs of Daetwyler Graphics, Hell Gravure Systems, and K. Walter.
A group of independent brands with a complete product line
The new Daetwyler Graphics AG in Bleienbach, Switzer-land, will continue MDC Daetwyler AG´s business of de-veloping, manufacturing, selling and servicing gravure cyl-inder making equipment.
The companies joined together inside Heliograph Hold-ing will offer their products under their own names and their individual brands. The distribution channels includ-ing sister companies and independent representatives will be united.
In the future, customers will be able to choose between electromechanical and laser based engraving technologies of Daetwyler, Hell Gravure Systems, and Schepers from one single source. These products can be combined with plating and automation technology from K.Walter, surface finish-ing technology from Daetwyler Graphics, and storage and transportation technology from Bauer Logistik into com-pletely integrated systems.
Daetwyler SwissTec with its international manufactur-ing plants for doctor blades located in Switzerland, USA, China, and India, as well as the Industrial Manufacturing Branch of MDC Max Daetwyler AG with its Swiss sites in Bleienbach and Ursenbach as well as its site in Estonia will not be transferred into Heliograph Holding. They will con-tinue to be lead independently by Peter Daetwyler.
In the United States, activities and employees involved in sales and service of gravure cylinder making equipment at Max Daetwyler Corporation will remain in Huntersville, NC, but will operate as K. Walter Service Corporation. K. Walter Service will maintain its employees and location in Inman, SC. Ralph Daetwyler has been named the President of K. Walter Service Corporation with Bob Speiss continu-ing as Vice President.
Source: Max Daetwyler Corporation Press Release
47www.flexoglobal.comMarch 2009 FlexoGlobal
ANSI/CGATS TR 011-2002An ANSI Technical Report Prepared by Committee for Graphic Arts Technologies Standards (CGATS)
Graphic Technology — Package Development Workflow — Design Concept Through Approved Production File
Now Available through FlexoGlobal at http://gravurexchange.com/store/page2.html
FlexoGlobalTM
48 www.flexoglobal.com March 2009FlexoGlobal
Flexo Highlight
The GoodOnYa Bar Wrapped in Compostable NatureFlex™ Film
Compostable NatureFlex™ film, printed flexo with water-based lamination inks, wraps the GoodOnYa bar
49www.flexoglobal.comMarch 2009 FlexoGlobal
Innovia Films’ biodegradable and compostable flexible material, NatureFlex™ has been chosen for a new range of
organic, mostly raw nutrition bars produced in the USA.
Based in San Diego, California, the GoodOnYa concept was founded by former Olympic athlete Kris Fillat. It began first with the GoodOnYa deli, offering an alternative to the everyday breakfast and lunch with an emphasis on locally produced and organic items. The GoodOnYa bar is a natu-ral extension of this philosophy, where every ingredient is carefully chosen for its nutritional value while considering the health of the environment.
Outlining why the GoodOnYa bar selected NatureFlex™, Kris said, “NatureFlex™ is certified biodegradable and com-postable and comes from a sustainable source of wood. We are the first company in the world to use this for a bar wrap-per. It is cutting edge eco-packaging, which is shiny and looks great. This is the change our earth desperately needs.”
NatureFlex™ films are cellulose based, derived from renew-able wood pulp and are certified to meet both the European EN13432 and American ASTM D6400 standards for com-postable packaging. The wood-pulp is sourced from man-aged plantations from referenced suppliers operating Good Forestry principals (FSC or equivalent). NatureFlex™ films typically have a renewable biobased content of some 95% by weight of material.
NatureFlex™ was an obvious solution for the packaging as the film begins life as a natural product—wood—and breaks down in a home compost bin (or industrial compost environment) within a matter of weeks. It also offers advan-tages for packing and converting such as inherent deadfold and anti-static properties, high gloss and transparency, re-sistance to grease and oil, good barrier to gases and aromas, and a wide heat-seal range.
The final packaging structure for the product is made from metallised NatureFlex™ NM laminated to high-gloss trans-parent NatureFlex™ NVS film. NatureFlex™ NM is a unique cellulose-based film, manufactured from renewable wood pulp and metallised in-house. It is the only metallised bio-degradable film suitable for home composting because the level of metal is so small—less than 0.02 percent—which slows the film’s biodegradation by a matter of days, but does not interfere with its biodegradability in any other way. Modified coatings ensure excellent metal lay-down and ad-hesion providing a very high moisture barrier with a trans-mission rate of less than 10g/m²/day (38degC, 90 percent RH). It is this high barrier that keeps the GoodOnYa bars in premium condition.
“NatureFlex™ films offer many advantages”, says Roslyn Smith, Innovia Films’ Sales & Marketing Manager, Packag-ing & Industrials - Americas, and adds that, “They are not only biodegradable and compostable for those packer pro-cessors keen to use sustainable packaging, but also have a technical performance second to none. Congratulations to GoodOnYa bar for their vision, passion, and drive to align their packaging message with the spirit of their product marketing, by providing caring consumers with a biode-gradable, naturally-based packaging material.”
For more information about the GoodOnYa Bar visit www.thegoodonyabar.com.
About Innovia Films Ltd.Innovia Films Ltd, is a major producer of Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene (BOPP) and cellulose (Cellophane™) films with production sites in the UK (based at Wigton in Cum-bria), USA, Belgium and Australia. It holds a leading global position in the markets for labels and security films, coated packaging, overwrap and biodegradable and compostable films under the brand-name NatureFlex,” employing some 1,400 people worldwide (900 staff are based at Wigton in Cumbria) NatureFlex™ is a registered trademark of Innovia Films Group.
50 www.flexoglobal.com March 2009FlexoGlobal
Basic Flexographic Seminars
December 8-11, 2008 February 2-5, 2009 | May 4-7, 2009 | August 24-27, 2009 | December 7-10, 2009
This 3-1/2 day seminar provides the basic information necessary for the production of quality flexographic printing. Instruction includes lectures, demonstrations, field trips and actual operation of printing presses. Seminar instructors are experienced in flexography or related industries. Register early! Seminar limited to 24 people. Cost: $895- includes all training, speakers, handouts, break food, lunches, and transportation to/from fieldtrip locations.
SPECIAL: Additional employees registered on the same date from the same company - $795/person
Fundamentals of Narrow Web Press Operation
March 30 – April 1, 2009 | June 8-10, 2009 | September 14-16, 2009
This 3 day seminar provides the basic information necessary for the production of quality flexographic printing. Instruction will consist of lectures, demonstrations and operation of machinery in the various subject areas. Topics covered: Flexographic art and copy, line, tone, and process printing, prepress functions, plates, press components and operation, anilox rolls, substrates, inks, solvents, inline converting and troubleshooting. $795/person/ includes all materials, morning breaks, noon lunches & extras.
SPECIAL: Additional employees registered on the same date from the same company - $695/person
Fundamentals of Wide Web Press Operation
November 3-5, 2008 February 16-18, 2009 | July 13-15, 2009 | November 2-4, 2009
The goal of this 3-day seminar is to give the participant equal instruction between theory and hands-on activities in the area of flexo platemounting and wide web press operation. Topics covered: Flexographic printing theory, press components & operation, ink handling & management, print setting adjustments, register & tension control, mounting, anilox rolls, doctor blades, chambered blade assembly & maintenance, press set-up, run, and clean-up & documentation. $795/person/ includes all materials, morning breaks, noon lunches & extras.
SPECIAL: Additional employees registered on the same date from the same company - $695/person
Fox Valley Technical College (FVTC) & Flexographic Technical Association (FTA) Seminars Seminars are held at Appleton WI with FVTC faculty instructing
Register with the FTA (631) 737-6026 | www.flexography.org
Achieving Consistency in Process Printing
January 19-22, 2009 | June 15-18, 2009 | October 5-8, 2009
This seminar deals with the concepts and tools involved in the production of high quality, repeatable process printing. Lectures, demonstrations, a field trip, and printing a four-color process job on an 8-color, central impression gearless press are included. Topics covered: Process color theory, image assembly& prepress proofing, densitometry & spectrophotometry, plate making, press operation, characterization & documentation, process ink- handling, anilox usage and maintenance.
FVTC is your training source for all flexo applications Registration Information
www.fvtc.edu/flexo920-735-4755
51www.flexoglobal.comMarch 2009 FlexoGlobal
Fox Valley Technical College (FVTC) & Association of IndependentCorrugated Converters (AICC) Seminars
Fundamentals of Improved Flexographic Printing & Rotary Die Cutting Seminars
Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday March 2-4, 2009 | June 22-24, 2009 | August 17-19, 2009
Who should attend: Press operators, press supervisors, sales representatives, and other plant personnel.
What you’ll learn: This 3-day graphics and die cutting program combines hands-on press work in printing and die cutting 2 and 3 color jobs using a WORKHORSE 3-color flexo rotary die cutter with interactive classroom analysis and discussion. You will acquire new skills to improve operations back at the plant. Please visit the AICC website for costs.
Digital Production for Containers & Displays
Who should attend: Customer service, pre-production, production, supervisors and line management
What you’ll learn: This NEW intensive workshop teaches digital production and processes. The program covers digital workflows, coordination of various production components; equipment utilized, and live, on-site demonstrations. The agenda covers corrugated manufacturing in a digital world, workflow and component coordination, equipment, processes, demonstration of digital production flow, putting the digital production puzzle together, and making it happen back when you return to your workplace. Please visit the AICC website for costs.
Selling Digital Printing
Who should attend: Sales people and designers
What you’ll learn: This NEW program teaches trends in graphic communications; markets of opportunities for converters; case study of one company’s approach to selling digital; business development selling strategies; and creating a plan using specific strategies and tactics that meet appropriate client needs. Please visit the AICC website for costs
Seminars are held at Appleton WI with FVTC faculty instructing
Register with the AICC at (877) 836-2422 or (703) 836-2422
http://www.aiccbox.org/
