The newest additions to Flint Group’s Catena Product family, the
Catena-W , for Washer, and Catena-DL, for Dryer Light finisher, follow Flint
Group’s promise of delivering solutions which are Better.Faster.Easier to use.
Since Xeikon Pre-press joined the Flint Group Family in 2015 both
Flint Group Flexographic and Xeikon Pre-press were suddenly in the very unique
position to have the expertise in plate manufacturing and plate processing
equipment in-house. This unique position in the industry resulted in a close
collaboration between our R&D departments with the aim to provide a fully
optimized Pre-press environment to our customers including equipment and
plates. "We believe that no one in our industry can match this level of
expertise and the first feedback we got from our beta customers is confirming
our view", says Friedrich von Rechteren, Global Commercial VP, Flint Group
Flexographic.
The Catena-W is designed to deliver highest productivity through
unique plate alignment which avoids plate skew during transport as well as an
advanced plate queuing system. This limits the distance between plates being
processed and maximizes the throughput. An integrated plate shuttle will enable
a single operator to easily handle large format plates, and a minimum gap
between queues will increase the number of plates processed per shift.
Xeikon Pre-press R&D Director Bart Wattyn explains: “Right from
the beginning our ThermoFlexX imaging systems were designed to help our
customers through automation and leading edge technology. By listening to the
challenges our customers have to face every day, like handling large size flexo
plates that are easy to damage, we developed the Flextray with fully automatic
loading and unloading. The positive feedback we received was tremendous!
Consequently, we announced the Catena-E LED exposure system in 2019 with a
fully automatic plate feed from our imagers. Plate processing (wash-out) gives
an extra challenge and we took it as a design goal that an operator should be
able to handle large plates, single handed and without ever having to come into
contact with their solvent-wet surface”.
Compared to other washers the Catena-W operates in a sealed
environment. Its efficient extractions ensure a minimum of solvent fumes
reaching the workplace, which benefits the health and safety of operators.
The Catena-DL features an automated lift that can be used to move a
plate from the shuttle to the dryer drawers and into the light finishing
section while avoiding any human touch point. Stefaan Herman, lead user and
Site Manager at Miller-Graphics, a Brand Management, Repro and Flexo Plate
making company specializing in flexible packaging, paper and foil, corrugated
and labels, states: “We have a great deal of experience and pride ourselves on keeping
pace with technical innovations. Choosing the right equipment is vital to keep
our business ahead. We are always interested in Flint Group and especially
ThermoFlexX developments and happy to take the opportunity to be the first
customer installing the Catena-W and Catena-DL. We’ve found the Catena-W
pin-bar system to be very useful. This avoids the need for punching the plate
by using an external spiked clamp system. Not only does this save a step, it
also means there’s no polymer residue from the punch that can sometimes stick
on a plate. Furthermore, the distance required for clamping is less and, thus,
saves us some plate material. Rather than a drive chain that passes through the
solvent, Catena-W uses a leadscrew that’s outside the liquid, this saves a lot
of maintenance. For the environment in our plate room, we noticed that special
covers limit the solvent evaporation with almost no smell discernable in the
room. The systems are noticeably quieter, too. Overall we believe that
ThermoFlexX has definitely brought a literally fresh and extremely valuable
approach to our business”.
