The Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner
Leading Austrian provider of security labels, Securikett, has brought flexo plate production inhouse. The company has installed a Flexcel NX Wide 3548 platesetting system along with a Flexcel NX Ultra 35 Processor.
Securikett is a family-owned company which has been in business for over 20 years. They print security labels and packaging seals to protect products against tampering and counterfeiting. The company offers product identification and traceability through printed labels, so those prints must be completely accurate and trustworthy. Security labels for referencing product information digitally must have accurate QR codes or RFID tags. All this requires precise and exact printing, but sustainability isn’t necessarily part of the consideration when investing in new kit. And yet, once buyers start to appreciate the benefits of new technologies, environmental sustainability comes to be better appreciated. This is mainly because it saves money.
Rather than sustainability, the major driver for investments of this kind is to make a business more profitable through process control improvements. Securikett also benefits from greater production security, since plates are now imaged inhouse and under the company’s complete control. This also means Securikett has much shorter lead times for imaging print ready plates.
But there are some important sustainability advantages, beyond faster production. For instance, there is no transport of imaged plates to the Securikett print factory so there are no transportation related emissions or packaging for the imaged plates. Securikett also has direct control over plate image quality without relying on a third party service provider.
The technology itself brings solid sustainability gains because Flexcel NX plates are processed with water, so their processing is solvent and VOC-free. These plates can also be imaged at 9600 x 4800 dpi. Microtext and such like fine detail security features can be printed with clarity and accuracy. A special feature of the Flexcel NX System is its high-resolution option for imaging at 9,600 x 4,800 dpi. This enables excellent clarity so that microtext and other detailed security features can be reliably printed on a flexo press.
Flexo printing has come a long way in recent years, such that it can increasingly be a viable alternative to offset. Miraclon’s Flexcel platform was designed specifically to overcome the usual challenges in traditional flexo for producing high quality print, such as controlling water based inks on press. Miraclon’s fully integrated system helps printers to minimise debris and grubbiness on press, so the press comes up to colour faster and with less waste. Another tick in the environmental sustainability box and one well-worth remembering for buyers of new kit.
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This article was produced by the Verdigris Project, an industry initiative intended to raise awareness of print’s positive environmental impact. This weekly commentary helps printing companies keep up to date with environmental standards, and how environmentally friendly business management can help improve their bottom lines. Verdigris is supported by the following companies: Agfa Graphics, EFI, Fespa, Fujifilm, HP, Kodak, Miraclon, RicohSplash PR, Unity Publishing and Xeikon.
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