Asahi Photoproducts, a pioneer in
flexographic photopolymer plate development, today announced that British
Daventry-based Creation Reprographics has been using the premium quality Asahi
AWP flexographic plate system for the past three years with excellent results.
Designed for high quality print performance, the AWP water wash plate
outperforms the best digital plates currently available for flexo. For the
first time, a digital photopolymer plate can hold extremely small stable dots -
smaller than those of solvent processed plates – and its stability on press is
superior to solvent plates, with numerous associated environmental and waste
reduction benefits.
Matt Francklow, Owner of Creation
Reprographics, said: “Sustainability is truly coming to the fore in print. With
this high quality water wash plate, it’s the final check for retailers. At
Creation Reprographics, we have positioned ourselves in the premium segment of
the market, competing head on with gravure in Europe and serving those
customers that demand the best in the UK. Our AWP results are simply unrivalled
– consistency, slightly raised ink density and better lay down, good minimum
dot, and speed to press are all achieved - making the printer’s job easy. The
system works across all substrates, and we see a real demand for this level of
performance in premium flexible packaging applications - a growth area in the
industry. Converters looking to move away from gravure and offset are truly
surprised by what AWP can achieve.”
Extensive plate trials and live
commercial production jobs have proven AWP’s ability to print down to a 10
micron dot, using classic round dot screening. With the latest screening
technologies, the plate is able to reproduce a vignette fade to zero. Due to
this quality leap, customers are able to successfully transfer production from
offset or gravure to flexographic printing.Francklow continued: “At Creation
Reprographics, we pride ourselves on our approach to environmental
sustainability, and AWP fits with that ethos perfectly. We’re investing in
energy management solutions across our sites and even looking at whether we can
collect, filter and recycle our rainwater to do the washing of these plates.
Even pens get recycled here!”
Alan Coker, Creation Business
Development Manager, commented: “Reducing waste in the plate making game is
critical to your profitability. Throwing polymer in the bin is just not
acceptable. Asahi’s supports our AWP plate technology investment with
preventative maintenance and machine audit visits. And they are on hand 24
hours a day, delivering technical solutions quickly and accurately whenever
needed, maximising our production efficiency.
“Our customers are delighted as
well. Since the plates do not suffer from distortion due to solvent swelling or
increased temperature, we are achieving better registration and consistency on
press. With the start-up time absolutely minimised, we’re making plates in less
than 1.5 hours. Combine that with suitability for 4-colour process set
applications, and you have an extremely compelling value proposition.”
The Asahi AWP™ technology has
been designed from the outset as an environmental plate solution minimizing
wherever possible waste of precious resources. The system is water washable and
does not rely on harsh solvents. The water is also reused in the process, being
filtered and recycled through the plate processing system. The system is also
free from the harmful volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions that are
typically generated by solvent and thermal processes.
The entire plate manufacturing
process does not generate any waste other than unexposed polymer residues,
which are collected as ‘dry cake’ and safely repurposed as a combustive agent
for incineration waste plants. AWP plates do not absorb much water, reducing
the drying time of the plate by up to two to three times that of solvent
cleaned plate systems. This results in cost and space reductions for the plate
making room, as energy-demanding hot air dryers are not required.
