Since 1975, Nägele
Digital Repro GmbH’s, based in Kempton, Germany, has specialised in prepress
work and the production of printing forms for flexographic printing in the
packaging field, an area where brand manufacturers and packaging producers are
applying increasing pressure on their prepress and printing partners.
To meet these
challenges, Nägele Digital Repro GmbH has recently extended its production
capabilities with a Kodak Flexcel Direct System for the direct engraving of
elastomer flexographic plates and sleeves. With the Flexcel Direct System, the
company has acquired a direct engraving solution that is distinguished by its
high resolution, productivity and outstanding versatility.
“In addition to
extending our underlying capacity, the Flexcel Direct System now allows us to
manufacture high-quality imaged elastomer plates and sleeves. For example, at
screen rulings of up to 60 lines per cm, we can engrave a printable tonal range
of 1 to 99% by modelling the dot edges accordingly,” says Manfred Nägele,
founder and senior director of Nägele Digital Repro GmbH, explaining why the
company chose to invest in the Kodak system. “What’s more, the Flexcel Direct
System allows us to manufacture ester-resistant elastomer plates, as an
alternative to special photopolymer plates, when two-component inks or
varnishes are to be used during the printing process.”
Direct laser
engraving is not completely new to Nägele Digital Repro GmbH, and the company
still uses a pre-existing CO2 laser system for simple linework jobs, but the Kodak
Flexcel Direct System has truly extended the company’s capabilities, and Nägele
now supplies ten different packaging printers of varying sizes with
laser-engraved plates and sleeves. “As far as sleeves are concerned,” continues
Nagele, “the elastomer sleeves manufactured on the Flexcel System are of a
higher quality than LAMS photopolymer sleeves. Another advantage lies in the
fact that the delivery times for elastomer sleeves are significantly shorter
and the purchase price is slightly lower. The elastomer printing forms stand
out due to their excellent ink transfer capabilities and the long print cycles that
can be achieved before cleaning is required, and the use of sleeves again opens
up the prospect of significant savings due to the large reduction in setup
times at the flexo presses.”
The Kodak Flexcel Direct
System features innovative, energy-efficient, high-power semiconductor laser
imaging technology, Kodak-formulated press-ready elastomers and workflow
software for accurate image reproduction. This outstanding combination of
technologies offers sleeves and plates for flexographic printing superior in
both quality and productivity potential - platemaking for flexographic
printing, which was once labor intensive, is now made much simpler by the Flexcel
Direct System.
The new investment
joins an impressive array of Kodak technology solutions at Nagele. They have
been using Kodak’s high-resolution Flexcel NX System technology to produce
high-quality photopolymer plates since May 2010. Kodak Flexcel NX Plates, which
paved the way for a dramatic increase in the quality and reproducibility of
flexographic printing, now account for 70% of the company's photopolymer plate
production. Driven by the powerful Kodak Prinergy Workflow and equipped with
Hybrid options, both of the company’s Kodak Flexcel NX Wide Imagers are also
able to image offset printing plates. Nagele chose Kodak Trillian SP Thermal
Plates - which require no preheating and reduce chemical consumption - to
support brand manufacturers with traditional reprographics services and supply
offset print shops throughout the region with print-ready plates.
By extending its
flexographic printing technology to include the Kodak Flexcel Direct System,
Nägele Digital Repro GmbH is now ideally positioned to meet the specific needs
of packaging printers with its wide range of photopolymer and elastomer
printing forms. “With the Flexcel Direct System, we have achieved a new quality
level that was not previously possible in the field of direct engraving,”
concludes Manfred Nägele.
