April 25, 2003 -- BROOKLYN, NY — About 12 months ago, a dramatic change became apparent to customers of Ultra Flex Packaging Corporation, a leading producer of high quality flexible packaging. The quality and consistency of their flexible packaging jobs was noticeably higher, and as a consequence, customer job acceptance soared. What made the difference, according to Zalman Zohar, Printing Manager of Ultra Flex, was Advanced Vision Technology's PrintVision/Apollo systems installed on Ultra Flex's three Titan 64-inch slitter-rewinders to provide 100% inspection, 100% of the time on all jobs before they are sent to customers. "You feel more secure, and your level of confidence in the quality of the product goes much higher when all the material is inspected on the slitter-rewinder with the PrintVision/Apollo. No defects get past us," Zohar says. The PrintVision/Apollo systems have had an important impact on overall productivity at Ultra Flex as well. Zohar explains, "Before we installed the Apollo systems, our slitter-rewinder operators had to slow down to be sure of catching any problems. Now they can run the equipment at full speed because with 100% inspection they can depend on the Apollo equipment to catch any problem." When not every defect requires correction, PrintVision/Apollo can mark and/or issue reports on the defective material that facilitate its tracing and removal when necessary. The quality level of PrintVision/Apollo can be pre-set for the level of defect attention required. Zohar explains that when Apollo detects a problem during the rewinding-slitting process, it actually zeroes in on the roll containing the problem. "If we're running five across, we don't have to stop and cut all five," he says. "We just take the problem roll, put it aside and we know exactly in which part of the roll the problem occurred." PrintVision/Apollo detects the full range of random and process defects such as color variations, mis-registration, streaks, splashes, hazing and misprints. In addition to random defects, the system can help catch process problems before they become costly defects that result in rejects, waste and dissatisfied customers. Since Ultra Flex's flexible packaging production utilizes laminates, it is important that their automatic inspection capability include the detection of defects in film material as well. "Apollo not only detects printing problems, it also detects laminate wrinkles and even laminate discoloration that might happen with two materials," Zohar points out. Most of the flexible packaging jobs that Ultra Flex handles are extremely high quality short runs. Because of that, Zohar emphasizes that it is very important for all the inspection systems they use to be easy and fast to set up. "All of the AVT inspection units we have on our rewinder-slitters, as well as on our presses, are so basic, simple and easy to program, that they're efficient to use even for runs as short as 3,000 feet. It's extremely reliable equipment and is practically maintenance free," he adds. In addition to the Apollo installations on its rewinder-slitters, Ultra Flex's two Fischer & Krecke Flexpress 16 S/10 gearless central impression flexo presses are equipped with AVT's PrintVision pRegister pre-setting and control systems. "So altogether with our inspection during press runs and 100% inspection on our rewinders, Ultra Flex has a closed loop of quality assurance that delivers outstanding results on every flexible packaging job we deliver to our customers," Zohar proudly states. Ultra Flex produces a wide variety of high quality flexible packaging products with solvent, solvent-less and ultra-barrier lamination. In bagging/converting, the company offers pouch and standup pouches and sideweld bags with options such as zip lock, degassing valves and easy tear, as well as hanger, reclosable tape, snap closure and flip close features. The company's high quality flexible packaging products are used for applications in bakery, dry food, condiment, confectionary, snacks, pet food and many other consumer and industrial market sectors. In its extensive pre-press department, Ultra Flex handles up 150-line screens and 10-color separations. It has digital DTP and conventional platemaking capabilities.