Excellent results in corrugated printing with flexible LED exposure technology 

Founded on 31 December 1968 in Zheleznogorsk (region Kursk, Russia) as a labels and corrugated board plant, today the GOTEK group is one of the largest Russian producers of packaging materials. The group is headquartered in Moscow, and employs more than 3,000 staff members at twelve sites. The portfolio covers a wide range of products from egg trays via colourfully printed consumer products and transport packages to various plastic packaging of highest quality. Printed substrates include paper as well as paperboard, corrugated cardboard and flexible materials.

Customer satisfaction is extremely important for GOTEK. That’s why not only high priority is set on the delivered goods, but also a comprehensive service package is offered to advise and support customers during the complete life cycle of the packaging. Thus, research is done to optimise available packaging or to develop new packaging solutions. Assistance is also offered with the design or shipment of the packaging, and, last but not least, experts visit the customers to test news products on site.

Dmitry Otroschenko, Head of the design and preproduction department, and Vitaliy Klochkov, Head of the platemaking department, are pleased with the new nyloflex^® NExT Exposure at GOTEK

Well trained specialists play an important role for the company’s success. Therefore already in 1996 an in-house academy was founded, where more than 2,000 employees are educated and trained each year. The result is really impressive: More and more junior staff are trained to become highly qualified experts, which can give advice to customers and help with problem solving. Moreover, in a very short period of time a large number of important positions within the group of companies could be filled with graduates of the GOTEK academy.

GOTEK group’s position as a leading supplier to the Russian packaging industry is reflected in its broad public recognition. With justifiable pride, GOTEK has been honoured with more than 20 certificates and over 40 medals, which were awarded during Russian or international packaging fairs and competitions. Not only its quality and high service level have been acclaimed, but also the company’s remarkable flexibility and enthusiasm for innovation. To maintain and expand this leading position, it is necessary to invest in advanced technology again and again and provide customers with access to the latest developments in flexo printing. At the end of 2013, GOTEK decided to invest in a nyloflex^® NExT FIII Exposure from Flint Group, as this technology enables customers to realise the highest quality expectations.

GOTEK first tested the nyloflex^® NExT exposure technology with corrugated substrate and immediately achieved excellent results. „Our customers expect high quality at a reasonable price“, state the GOTEK specialists. „To meet these requirements is a matter of course for us. The new technology is especially attractive for us as it enables us to print high resolution surface screenings and significantly reduces fluting at the same time“.GOTEK group uses Flint Group’s flexible LED exposure technology in corrugated printing. 

The nyloflex^® NExT exposure technology utilises a high intensity UV-A LED light source to conduct rapid crosslinking of the photopolymer surface before oxygen inhibition can occur, resulting in a flat top dot structure on the printing plate and a virtual 1:1 image reproduction from the digital file to the finished plate. This technology does not require any additional consumable items or steps; additionally, it can easily be incorporated into the existing digital workflow. The high level of UV emission leads to a significant improvement in the reproduction of the fine relief elements. When combined with high resolution surface screening, the resulting surface texture of the flat top dots provides an optimal surface to enhance ink laydown, ink density, and consistency in printing. In flexible packaging, printing plates exposed with this technology allow excellent ink transfer, particularly in solids. In corrugated printing, fluting will considerably be reduced as the LED exposure allows a better control of the relief profile. Additionally, the nyloflex^® NExT technology provides significantly improved reproduction quality and long-term stability.