Sun Chemical Opens Plate Manufacturing Facility

Published: July 22, 2013

CONCORD, CA | Sun Chemical reports the opening of a new flexographic printing plate manufacturing facility in Concord. The $5 million, 25,000-sq-ft facility, which opened on July 15, will consist of all new equipment for the manufacturing of the HD plates, including an Esko HD CDI laser imager, a MacDermid LUX laminator, and DuPont DigiFlow/DigiCorr systems as well as the ESKO Digital Flexo Suite (DFS) pin mounting system.

“Demand is growing for the high-end graphics in packaging, and we want our customers to not only benefit from Sun Chemical inks and coatings but also from our HD platemaking capabilities,” says Kreg Keesee, VP of Sun Chemical Graphic Services.

As part of the investment, company will be upgrading its Maumee, OH, facility by adding a mirrored digital HD sheet photopolymer system. With two world-class platemaking plants, Sun Chemical says this will allow it to be a partner with customers for outsourcing plates with a rapid turnaround to meet all tight deadlines, and customers also have the opportunity to gain additional value by complementing their existing in-house plate production by avoiding expensive capital requirements to add HD technology.

“HD is still relatively new to the market, but it is growing quickly due to the CPG demands for higher-end graphics,” says Lee Luckey, general manager of the SunGraphics Div. of Sun Chemical. “Our Concord facility is designed to improve what we can provide with HD all the way through the entire prepress and platemaking process.”

Sun Chemical’s platemaking facilities manufacture high-definition plate technology utilizing ESKO HD software and CDI high-resolution imaging to 4,000 PPI, reportedly resulting in expanded tonal range, wider color gamut, and increased screen lines per inch to produce sharper more vibrant images and colors.

The Concord and Maumee facilities offer two different methods for producing Flat-Top Dot technology—the MacDermid Lux system and the DuPont DigiFlow/DigiCorr system. The MacDermid Lux system utilizes a membrane laminator for an oxygen barrier, and the DigiFlow/DigiCorr system uses a nitrogen flow environment to create a flat-top dot.

In addition, both facilities are equipped with Esko Advanced HD MicroCell technology to achieve higher ink densities, reduce or eliminate pin-holing, and improve print quality in the shadow areas.

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