Flexo prepress specialist reports consistent exposures up to 33% faster, boosting productivity, with initial investment

Print Quest Graphics Ltd, based in Skegness, UK, made its second investment in Shine LED Lamp Kits, innovated by Miraclon, at drupa 2024 after reporting significant efficiency and quality gains from their initial investment earlier this year. “The benefits were so significant,” said David Jarvis, managing director and founder of Print Quest, “I knew within 24 hours after installation that I would be upgrading my other two exposure units with Shine LED Lamp Kits too.”

Dave explains: “On average we’ve reduced exposure times by 33%, which is remarkable. Because the LED lamps don’t degrade, exposures are consistent across the entire bed, eliminating plate remakes, and our plate specialists aren’t spending time monitoring and recalibrating lamps. In addition, because the Shine LED lamps operate at room temperature, we don’t have to wait for the lamps to warm up and cool down. This can take up to 30 minutes, so the productivity benefits are considerable as well. We also anticipate significant savings on our energy bills, so it enhances our sustainability proposition.”

Simple low-cost route to LED advantages
The Shine LED Lamp Kit is Miraclon’s innovative solution to providing fluorescent users with a simple, low-cost route from inconsistent fluorescent exposure to the multiple advantages of LED technology. By utilizing customers’ existing fluorescent exposure frames, for a fraction of the cost of a new LED exposure unit, users benefit from consistent, predictable intensity over a much longer operating life (up to 5,000 hours compared to 800 hours for fluorescent tubes), faster exposures, and enhanced sustainability performance. These features won the Shine LED Lamp Kit a unique double at this year’s FTA Excellence in Flexography Awards, winning top awards for both Sustainability and Technical Innovation.

The Shine LED Lamp Kit is designed to be retrofitted on-site in a few hours by a qualified electrician. “In our case, the installation took around five hours and went very smoothly,” says David Jarvis. “There was minimal disruption to production.”

A tradition of innovation at Print Quest
Print Quest is always on the lookout for innovative technology that delivers efficiency and quality benefits. In 2008 the company was the first commercial installation of the FLEXCEL NX System, and later became one of the first European tradeshops to complete the Miraclon Certification Program for FLEXCEL NX Plates. The company has also developed its own patented plate screening technology — Utopia — which relies on the exceptional reproduction and ink transfer capabilities of FLEXCEL NX Technology to allow printers to match any color standard while dramatically improving on-press efficiency by reducing waste and set-up time.

David Jarvis says that in evaluating new technology “it’s important that it should benefit both Print Quest and our customers, improving workflow, efficiency and quality for both parties. The Shine LED Lamp Kit meets all these criteria and is proving an excellent addition to our production.”