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Ultra Flex Uses AVT pRegister To Slash Make-Ready Time

Press release from the issuing company

BROOKLYN, NY, June 11, 2003 — Zalman Zohar, Printing Manager of Ultra Flex Packaging Corporation, a leading producer of quality flexible packaging, freely admits that twelve months ago when his company installed its first Fischer & Krecke Flexpress 16 S/10 gearless central impression flexo press, he was less than enthusiastic about adding Advanced Vision Technology's (AVT) pRegister pre-setting and control system to the unit. "I had many doubts about what pRegister could do to improve the performance of a new, technologically advanced F&K press that was fully computerized and capable of extremely fast changeovers with the experienced operators we had," Zohar says. "Today I wouldn't think of operating without it," he quickly adds. "pRegister has had a tremendous impact on our operations. We are cutting down our make-ready time and material waste significantly on every press run. Those savings are major benefits for our customers and for us, especially for short runs, which represent a high segment of the work we produce at Ultra Flex." Zohar observes, "I like that our operators don't have to be computer engineers to set up pRegister. It has very basic programming that takes maybe 30 to 60 seconds to put in the codes. When our operators start the press run, they just push a button and pRegister automatically brings all of the plates into register immediately, and keeps the job in register throughout the run." During a press run, pRegister is capable of holding a register accuracy of 15 microns. 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 pouches, 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 to 150-line screens and 10-color separations. It has digital DTP and conventional platemaking capabilities. As a closed-loop solution for central impression flexo presses, pRegister can bring ten colors into register in 60 seconds or less, which by AVT's estimate can result in a saving of up to 40 hours of press time a month. pRegister's fast registration also saves thousands of feet of costly flexible packaging substrates from being wasted during press run ups. In comparison, traditional registering procedures can take about 15 minutes of press time and use as much as 3,000 feet of material on every job. "Like the AVT inspections systems we have on all of our other presses and rewinders, the pRegister is very simple to use, very reliable equipment, and has been virtually maintenance free," Zohar points out. In March, Ultra Flex completed the installation of its second Fischer & Krecke 10-color gearless central impression flexo press equipped with pRegister. Zohar notes, "The very fast return on investment of our first pRegister unit erased all doubt in my mind long ago about its importance to the efficient operation of a central impression press. It will be on every CI press we install." AVT notes that Zohar is not alone. The company says that approximately 50% of all pRegister pre-setting and control systems it sold were installed on the new, advanced central impression presses shipped worldwide by the industry's leading flexo press manufacturers.