Boxmeer, The Netherlands - Grafomed Printing Company will become Serbia’s first label converter to offer rotary screen printing capabilities after agreeing, at Labelexpo 2017, to install an SPGPrints RSI^® Compact printing unit on a six-colour MPS flexo press at its Aleksandrovac printing facility.

Since investing in the 330mm-wide flexo press in 2009, Grafomed Printing Company has become a leading supplier of self-adhesive, wrap around and shrink sleeve labels to the beverage and chemical industries across the Balkan region. 

Radomir Beo?anin, CEO and owner of Grafomed Printing Company, comments: “We see SPGPrints’ rotary screen technology as essential for meeting the rising quality expectations and safety requirements from brand owners in Serbia and other states in the region. We are experiencing a strong demand, especially among wine-makers, for sophisticated solutions that communicate the quality of their products, while motor oil manufacturers are seeking braille to be incorporated into their packaging. The RSI Compact unit and RotaMesh^® reusable nickel screens will enable us to incorporate a range of high-impact and tactile effects requiring thick ink deposits inline, with flexo, in a single pass and at speed.”

Positioned on a sliding rail above the printing stations of the press, the RSI Compact can be moved effortlessly into different positions in the printing sequence. Using RotaMesh screens that deposit ink up to 250µm thickness, the unit can apply features including opaque white, for the no-label look, tactile varnishes that also add colour richness to underlying graphics, metallic foil and other reflective substrates.  

The re-imageable non-woven nickel RotaMesh screens offer long-term cost savings, thanks to their strength, stability at speeds of up to 150m/min, easy handling and reusability.  

SPGPrints will coordinate the retrofitting of the MPS press in the final quarter of 2017, and ensure service and a fast supply of engraved RotaMesh screens through its regional distributor, Rotografix. The distributor, based in Vienna, has offices in Belgrade, and across the Balkan region.

Bart van Kempen, area sales manager at SPGPrints, comments: “As the first company in Serbia to install rotary screen printing technology, Grafomed Printing Company is leading the label converting market in making a host of creative branding possibilities locally available, and thereby providing a vital competitive edge to retail goods manufacturers. We are looking forward to providing the long-term support to help Grafomed adopt the technology, so they reap the full benefits of this investment.”

Currently working a three-shift operation, Grafomed Printing Company intends to increase capacity with the installation of a second press in 2018.