Contact Originators Offers Wide Plate for Corrugated

Published: April 23, 2018

BREDBURY, STOCKPORT, UK | Contact Originators, a packaging origination and graphics management company, has designed and manufactured what it says is the first 2.8-m-wide mounted multi-piece photopolymer flexographic plate. The plate is said to be dimensionally accurate to 100 micron across the 2.8-m width and to enable corrugate printers to maximize print yields utilizing the full width of the press.

Steve Mulcahy, CEO of Contact Group, says, “Despite the claims of many press manufacturers, corrugated printers have not been able to truly utilize the full width of their presses, being constrained at 1.92 meters in reality when running multi-color tight register designs. We have now pushed beyond the normal capability of corrugated flexo plate production, through a unique combination of new investment in hardware and software, to create a plate that on initial beta testing has successfully delivered a 48 percent yield improvement for a leading UK corrugate converter.”

Company says the newly branded MagnaForma technology can be produced on any plate type. It is working with a number of suppliers including Flint Group, MacDermid Graphics Solutions, and DuPont, and is in the process of conducting further analysis to identify the plate technology with the highest stability for optimum long-run print performance.

Reportedly, the new MagnaForma solution retains a 0.2-mm register across the print and the butt join, even when used on solid colors.

Contact Originators general manager Nick Mitchell says, “This is a big step in innovation for the industry. Our recent trials revealed a 45-minute saving per print run for the converter, unlocking additional capacity and volume with every pass. The solution is designed for large-volume print runs. For example, we recently trialed MagnaForma technology on a high quality post-print job for a large drinks brand, where a typical run length is 20,000 boxes; the results of time savings and increased yield were outstanding.”

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