Contact Originators has revealed first details of the industry-leading flexo platemaking equipment installed at its new Manchester super site.

The graphics origination and flexographic plate manufacturer has invested in a second Esko CDI Crystal XPS imager and exposure solution that will enable another completely inline flexo platemaking workflow at the impressive facility, setting the industry standard for highly efficient, integrated and automated platemaking.

Having moved from its original Bredbury site in March 2021, Contact Originators is now located at a new 32,500 ft2 super site in Dukinfield, Manchester.

Steve Mulcahy, CEO of Contact Originators Group, said: “We believe we now have the best equipped site in Europe to meet the needs of the prepress market today and tomorrow. Our equipment configuration is uniquely designed to support the creation of a fully streamlined and automated site for truly flexible flexo prepress processing.

“This latest investment in Esko is helping us change the game in flexo plate production, providing a highly efficient, sustainable facility that is delivering excellence to customers and stakeholders. The inline set-up delivers efficient, highly productive operations and brings supreme quality, flexibility and fast turnaround to plate manufacturing. Importantly, all our plates now incorporate flat top dots, bevelled edges and printed shims, as a result of our digital shim printing technology, PrintHQ.”

The CDI Crystal offers efficiency and quality gains by reducing manual steps and operator intervention, as well as reducing errors by 50%, meaning less plate waste. With UV main and back exposure, the XPS Crystal uses LEDs which require no warm-up time and emit even light to ensure consistent plate quality.

James Mason, Regional Business Director EMEA North at Esko, commented: “We have had a long-term relationship with Contact and are delighted that they have chosen to invest once again in our CDI and XPS Crystal range of flexo platemaking equipment and integrated software. The site is clearly a benchmark in prepress operations in terms of capacity, quality, efficiency and digital workflow capability. It’s truly impressive!”

Steve Mulcahy concluded: “With this Esko platemaking technology, speed will not come at the sacrifice of quality. We will be more agile and able to produce superior quality plates at the pace demanded by the market, while reducing waste and downtime. We are changing the future of platemaking in Europe by providing an industry-leading experience for our customers.”