How REVO has helped Happy Plastics to take quality to the next level

Nikolai Stepanov, Owner of Russian printing company Happy Plastics, is talking about his company’s decision to embrace REVO, the highly regarded manufacturing solution to create DigiFlexo Printing by digitalizing the flexo process.

Mr. Stepanov recognized the way the market was going, with brands requiring shorter print runs more often, and saw the opportunity with REVO to be able to provide this for customers at the highest levels of productivity and quality but for competitive prices and minimum waste. Happy Plastics is a leading name in Russia for the manufacture of labels and flexible package and Mr. Stepanov has always prided himself in staying one-step ahead to give his customers a competitive advantage.

“I have been in this business for a long time, and over the years I have come a long way from caveman manual labor to the first semiautomatic devices, then to automatic lines,” he said. “Now with REVO technology, for short runs we can be extremely productive at a relatively low price. Customers can order packaging exactly as they need it, rather than accumulate a lot of unneeded stock. And we can respond very quickly to their orders. It’s a very good solution for everyone.”

Embracing the DigiFlexo REVOlution
REVO – which stands for Digital Flexo REVOlution – is a team of leading companies in the labels and packaging industry, providing end-to-end and ready to deploy solutions addressing major challenges such as color consistency, flexibility across substrates and productivity for faster time-to-market. BOBST established the REVO partnership, consisting of Apex International, AVT, BOBST, DuPont, ESKO, Flint Group, Saica Flex, Stora Enso, UPM Raflatac and X-Rite Pantone to optimize the digitalization of the complete production process.

One of greatest successes of REVO has been color consistency, a consistent challenge for brand owners over the years. The REVO 7-color Extended Color Gamut (ECG) is now a well-established turn-key DigiFlexo process that flows from pre-press through to production output. ECG printing uses three additional ink colors – orange, green and violet (OGV) – on top of the conventional colors of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK), enabling a match with 90%+ of the Pantone book, compared with approximately 60% previously. This means there is no need to keep huge inventories of spot colors, but these can be added if required.

“Our productions don’t differ from the color proof, and very few companies are able to really offer this,” said Mr. Stepanov. “In 99% of cases, we know that we’ll get exactly what was on the color proof. This system has saved us from many problems and has allowed us to save a lot of time and resources.”

BOBST M6 line perfectly suited to REVO
Another benefit of REVO is that manufacturers can benefit from the various solutions of all REVOpartners, working in perfect harmony. Happy Plastics used M6 line from BOBST as its press. “REVO would not be possible without such a good press,” said Mr. Stepanov.

A combination of in-line UV Flexo, REVO Digital Flexo and the V-Flower print unit allow for job changeovers in one minute, “on-the-fly” without stopping the press. It is the most productive press to economically produce ultra-short to mid-size runs, with the highest print quality, and the highest health and safety for food packaging.

The switch to REVO has required an adjustment period but “now our employees know how to work with REVO and maximize its benefits for our customers,” said Mr. Stepanov. And BOBST Services have been on hand to support as needed. “BOBST Services helped us through everything step-by-step. Now we are up and running and everyone is seeing the benefits,” he said.