New options for blending proven flexo plate solutions at drupa
Asahi Photoproducts, flexographic photopolymer plate manufacturer, has announced its plans for a full range of flexographic printing plate solutions at drupa 2016, on May 31 to June 10 in Düsseldorf, Hall 11, Stand A60.
“We will be showing our full portfolio of flexo plate solutions as well as some exciting new products, so we encourage everyone interested in flexography to stop by and see us,” said David Galton, sales director of Asahi Photoproducts Europe.
“We will also have plenty of real-life award-winning examples that demonstrate the quality our plate solutions can bring to flexo print. All of this adds up to ensured viability of flexo technology over the long term plus more production efficiencies for flexographic operations.”
Asahi offers a full range of flexographic plates featuring pinning technology for clean transfer. This technology is specifically engineered to transfer all remaining ink to the print substrate due to the photopolymer plates having a lower surface energy than other plates on the market. This also improves overall production efficiencies due to reduced makeready waste and fewer press wash-ups.
Asahi’s plate line includes: AWP-DEF water-washable plates, with its solvent-free platemaking process, there is no need for high temperature processes; AFP–TOP, a premium digital flexo plate designed primarily for wide-web film printing applications giving the printer a broader colour gamut with soft tonal shades fading out to zero; AFP–TSP medium-hard plates are tailor-made for paper and higher quality corrugated board applications with water-based inks.
New at drupa
“We are not resting on our laurels at Asahi,” Galton added. “We’ll be bringing both new products and new concepts with us to drupa.”
These new solutions include: A new AFP-DCV digital flexo plate, designed to produce deep colour vibrance prints for water- and solvent-based inks in flexible packaging applications. This is delivered by using a polymer solution, giving the best balance between highlight dots and deep vibrant colours within one plate.
A new AWP-DEW plate solution, incorporating the renowned quality properties of AWP DEF plates with the addition of a faster plate processing speed, makes this plate ideal for larger format flexible packaging operations with higher plate throughput. It has the same consistent plate dimensional stability vital for fixed colour palette printing, delivering significant quality and OEE benefits.
In addition to this, the company will be inviting its customers to see future concepts for flexographic sleeve solutions. Asahi’s plate on sleeve concept is targeted at excellent register characteristics for fixed colour palette.
Galton concludes: “We look forward to welcoming visitors, learning more about their businesses, and helping them find ways to improve quality, productivity and profitability in their flexographic operations.”