Blending proven flexo plate solutions with innovative new options

Tokyo, Japan & Brussels, Belgium -  Asahi Photoproducts, a pioneer in flexographic photopolymer plate development, is pleased to announce that it will be bringing a full range of flexographic printing plate solutions to drupa 2016, scheduled for 31 May through 10 June in Düsseldorf. Asahi will be located in Hall 11, Stand A60, at the show. Asahi Photoproducts is known for its unique Pinning Technology for Clean Transfer, enabling kiss touch printing that delivers improved ink transfer, reduces ink filling at the mid-tone area thus reducing dot gain, and results in fewer cleaning intervals for improved overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).

“We are looking forward to sharing our innovative flexo plate solutions with drupa visitors,” says David Galton, Sales director of Asahi Photoproducts Europe. “We will be showing our full portfolio of flexo plate solutions as well as some exciting new products, so we encourage everyone interested in flexography to stop by and see us. We will also have plenty of real-life award-winning examples that demonstrate the quality our plate solutions can bring to flexo print. All of this adds up to ensured viability of flexo technology over the long term plus more production efficiencies for flexographic operations.”

Proven Pinning Technology for Clean Transfer

Asahi offers a full range of flexographic plates featuring Pinning Technology for Clean Transfer. This unique Asahi plate technology is specifically engineered to transfer all remaining ink to the print substrate due to the photopolymer plates having a lower surface energy than other plates on the market. Not only does this deliver stunning graphical quality, but it also improves overall production efficiencies due to reduced makeready waste and fewer press wash-ups. Asahi’s plate line includes:

• AWP™-DEF water-washable plates, producing superior results compared to traditional technologies and even outperforming the latest generation of digital flexographic printing plates. The AWP™-DEF plate delivers a level of graphic reproduction with more complete ink transfer and a wider tonal range. With its solvent-free platemaking process, there is no need for high temperature processes and the result is a perfect, dimensionally stable plate that ensures high quality print registration without colour shift.
• AFP™–TOP, a premium digital flexo plate designed primarily for wide-web film printing applications giving the printer a broader colour gamut with soft tonal shades fading out to zero. With superb press stability characteristics, it is able to consistently reproduce and print small dots and is able to print vignettes that run to zero. It delivers an average cost savings of 18% due to improved overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) as compared to standard digital flexo plates, resulting in savings of several hundred thousand euros per year.
• AFP™ – TSP for paper printing applications. These medium-hard plates are tailor-made for paper and higher quality corrugated board applications with water-based inks. TSP plates are compatible with water, solvent and most UV-curable inks, enabling all converters to benefit from Pinning Technology for Clean Transfer. These plates also facilitate homogeneous ink transfer in solid and line work, and better control of ink trapping when different colour inks are printed on top of each other. 

New at drupa

“We are not resting on our laurels at Asahi,” Galton adds. “We’ll be bringing both new products and new concepts with us to drupa.” These include:

• A new AFP™-DCV digital flexo plate, designed to produce Deep Colour Vibrance prints for water- and solvent-based inks in flexible packaging applications. Deep Colour Vibrance is delivered by using a unique polymer solution, giving the best balance between highlight dots and deep vibrant colours within one plate. Deep Colour Vibrance plates represent the first plate solution in the market that combines vibrant colour printing with the Pinning Technology for Clean Transfer OEE features.
• A new AWP™-DEW plate solution, incorporating the renowned quality properties of AWP™ DEF plates with the addition of a faster plate processing speed, making this plate ideal for larger format flexible packaging operations with higher plate throughput. It has the same consistent plate dimensional stability vital for fixed colour palette printing, delivering significant quality and OEE benefits. 

In addition to the new products on Asahi’s booth, the company would also like to invite its customers to see future concepts for flexographic sleeve solutions. Asahi’s plate on sleeve concept is targeted to deliver excellent register characteristics, which makes it the perfect vehicle for fixed colour palette. 

Overall, drupa 2016 is stacking up to be an exciting, vibrant show; and we believe visitors to our stand will see that first-hand from Asahi,” concludes Galton. “We look forward to welcoming visitors, learning more about their businesses, and helping them find ways to improve quality, productivity and profitability in their flexographic operations.” 

For more information about innovative flexo plate technologies from Asahi Photoproducts, visit www.asahi-photoproducts.com, or visit us at drupa in Hall 11, Stand A60.