Spring 2004                    return to newsletter contents page

Suppliers Share Information at FPPA Convention

Several FPPA supplier members made presentations at FPPA's recent convention in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Topics ranged from conventional vs. digital corrugated post-print to an overview of facilities management. Click on the buttons below to see what some of these suppliers had to say. The balance of the presentations will be summarized in the next issue of On-Target.

DuPont: Corrugated Printing: The Rising Power of Store Brands

Bob Zoelle Discussed the recent rise to dominance of store brands as a result of the increasing power of large retailers such as Walmart and Home Depot. In many cases, a particular store brand now outsells the national brands. The average family now spends $450 per year on private label items. Market penetration is 100% into American households. These factors have forced consumer product companies to use Walmart and other large retailers in their distribution chains.

Agfa: Cross Modulation (XM) Flexo Screening

Francis Cicogna of Agfa Corporation presented a summary of the characteristics of Agfa’s new XM Screening, :Sublima. :Sublima was the winner of this year’s FPPA Technology Innovator of the Year. Agfa’s goal in bringing this product to market was to bridge the gap between flexo and offset using conventional platemaking methods and with no additional capital investment on the part of the printer.

XM screening overcomes the limitations of AM, FM and various hybrid screening methods currently being used. XM utilizes AM screens with FM implementation, meaning that in the extreme highlight areas, dots are removed. Dots always remain on the traditional angles and are allowed to get no smaller than the smallest printable dot for a specific press.

The technology has proven itself in test runs as well as production runs. Line screens of up to 212 on poly and 170 on corrugated are easily achievable. Press latitude and stability are the same as experienced with traditional AM screening despite the significantly high line screens being printed. The technology requires a lower anilox to line screen ratio than past standards have dictated allowing printers to dramatically increase printing capabilities with no capital investment.

Esko Graphics: The Role of PDF 1.4 and Acrobat 6.0 in Flexo Packaging Design

Ian Hole of Esko-Graphics gave a presentation on PDF 1.4 and JDF. PDF being a portable document format and JDF being a sort of job ticket format that tracks everything that has been done to the file every step of the way.

6 years ago Esko entered a "mind share" with Adobe to develop the PDF workflow as it is today, with the goal being one standard file format. The issues early on were the lack of editing tools for the PDF file. This has changed with the introduction of PDF 1.4. According to Ian, the PDF 1.4 file will lower operator training costs. The PDF format will image to any output device known. Along with this file there will be JDF file, this is a file that will contain all the information about the job from its beginning to end. All changes made etc. this could be important for tracking job costs. JDF is a beginning to end all inclusive file that will allow pre press to be tied to the rest of the company.

 Ian also touched on the PDFX file format which basically will handle everything that standard PDF 1.4 can't. Such as 3D rendering and movie clips.

Cortron: High Definition Exposure is no Longer for the Little Guys: A Breakthrough in ITR

Cortron’s Mark Firovanti discussed the technique they have developed scanning exposure on the large format 52x80 unit, as well as the technology for in the round exposures for sleeves and cylinders. Cortron found that point light source exposures will actually further enhance the quality of digitally ablated plates.

The 5280SE uses a dual head liquid cooled light source, a chilled bed for reducing heat, and a digital integrator. The unit is highly accurate and uses joules of light for plate to plate consistency, uniform floors, fast exposures, and less rejects. It also eliminates the need for a CTP bump curve and recaptures lost tonal range of bank exposures systems. This technology produces better analog as well as digital plates.

The unit comes with a light finishing option and has the ability to expose sleeves up to 90" wide and 52" repeats. They are working on a 36"x38" scanning exposure unit for flat plates which will be ready in June.
 

The Pitman Company: Facilities Management

Bill Ceperich of The Pitman Company presented a comprehensive overview of facilities management. He defines facilities management as a mutually beneficial relationship allowing each participant to leverage core strengths. Key to the success of facilities management is that the relationship be defined by the customer, not the provider. The prepress provider puts equipment on site at the customer’s plant with or without personnel.

Bill feels that it is important to our industry that platemakers begin to market facilities management more aggressively. These relationships serve to close loops, reduce overall costs, reduce labor and shorten cycle times. Some key items to look at if you are contemplating such a relationship include overall volume and consistency of that volume, physical space, support equipment, insurance, overtime, government compliance, management systems, job tracking and trafficking, and exclusivity.

Overall value of facilities management comes from increased profits, customer retention, increased volume and market expansion.

MacDermid: LTL Liquid Photopolymer Helps Trade Shops Increase Quality

Dan Fry of MacDermid Printing Solutions delivered a presentation to the FPPA attendees in Puerto Vallarta. The topic of his presentation covered the benefits of LTL and XTP, MacDermid’s latest additions of liquid photopolymer. 

These 32 durometer (shore A) products boast all of the most desired printing attributes.  Great solid coverage as well as wide imaging latitude of screen work.  But the most impressive features presented on these two products are the resistance to UV deterioration and low tack.  UV deterioration was a huge drawback for prior formulations of liquid polymer.  There is a price to pay though.  An additional “light finishing” step prolongs the plate-making process.  Low tack allows extended print time between clean ups and less dust issues on the final product.  Dan supported all of these enhancements with testimonials from happy users.

LTL is the product designed for thicker plate applications (.125” - .250”) and the XTP is more appropriate for thin plate applications (less than .125”).  In either case, it is recommended to use a capping layer for screen work.  It is wise to realize that though capping enhances the dot structure, it detracts from solid coverage printing.  In this light, one needs to consider a localized cap instead of an overall cap.  Latitudes from 2% - 95% were claimed at 100 LPI and 85 LPI from the LTL product.  The screen range quoted from the XTP product went from 2% - 95%  at 120 LPI.  All three scenarios involved a capped surface.

A comparison between sheet and liquid was illustrated to show a cost savings could be achieved by using liquid polymer.

Creo:Flexo Bends it Like Beckham

Jonathan Agger of Creo discussed the state of the industry and three of the products that Creo has developed to help move flexo forward in capability. Jonathan stated that we are in the most dynamic industry at the most dynamic time. The role of packaging in marketing and branding is more important than ever. Quality is increasing and designers and brand managers are looking for more innovation which increases that demands on the industry. A greater number of shorter runs also increase demands.

Creo has several products to help platemakers respond to changing market conditions. Three of these are Maxtone, HyperFlex , and DigiCap. Maxtone is a screening technology which utilizes same- size dots in the highlight areas and randomly removes them to simulate FM screening. HyperFlex builds off Maxtone to provide smaller dots by widening the shoulder (building up the floor of the plate) thus providing a more stable base for small isolated dots. It allows relief to be controlled locally rather than over the surface of the entire plate. DigiCap applies a pattern of small reverse dots in the surface of the plate which minimizes visual artifacts, reduces dot gain, and increases solid ink densities.