This is a totally false statement!

Exclusive interview with Nick Harvey, Apex International, Technical Sales manager for the UK and Ireland.

Why do you promote a fixed colour palette?

Fixed colour printing is the natural evolution of Flexo, the industry can not simply continue as previously due to new technologies like Digital and Hybrid versions of printing. This has been instrumental in changing the way brands are looking to buy their packaging. Fixed palette uses all the generic benefits of Flexo and utilises the efficiency benefits seen through the newer forms of printing.

What does a printer require?

Simple! Consistency throughout his process, this means eliminate the variables and not manage the variables. There lies a big mind change for the printer and print manager!

Apex focusses on 4c, instead 7c which seems to be more common. Why is that?

My question back at you “Is 7c is more common in flexible Packaging real production?” A/ Due to the physical wash down/change over time being longer on a wide web flexo CI press compared to an inline label press, we need to differentiate the 2 formats of printing.Narrow web Label can move directly to 7C as per गोल्ड रत्रर GTT “REVO” concept. Whereas, Wide web CI flexo requires a smoother transition to “pantone simulation”. For the larger format and CI presses it is essential to reduce as many process variables as possible, 4C is reducing the variables required to be controlled, whereas 7C adds 3 more colours and subsequently the extra related variables of each colour! To be clear there is no conflict between 4C and 7C they are both” Colour Simulation processes” B/ With 4C all printers are familiar with and comfortable printing the YMCK colours 50 this should be the starting point. With the correct anilox GTT and Plate technology you can hit more than 1000 pantone colours within a delta E of 3 using only 4 C C/4 C does not restrict your press in any way you can still print all existing designs and orders with out the need to make expensive time consuming wash ups and changes. D/ all existing plates and ink press returns can be used away gradually as you begin to print more and more 4C designs. E/ After successful transition to 4C you can always progress to 7 C F/. 4C enables you to be creative with metallic and lacquers in the spare units to create added value products.

How many % of pantone colours and of flexible packaging jobs can be printed in 4c?

Depending on Anilox/plate technology around 65% of the pantone book. But it is more important to understand how many colours are possible for example with 4C 1000 within a delta e of 37 Why is the number of colours more important? An average printer will print NO more than 500 different pantones per year! They will have many recipes to allow for different anilox and different substrates but in reality the number of pantone colours printed per year as an average at any printer is less than 500 Therefore, maybe the 1000 achievable from 4C is 100% of these? Maybe it is 0%, but for sure it is worth investigating.

To achieve this with 4c, using more ink is required. How much compared to a 7 or 8 colour job with spot colours?

This is a totally false statement. 4C uses less ink in total, also less Solvent, plates, tape, set up time, less energy due to less drying capacity and even less emissions, resulting in a greener product. We have conducted a full independent controlled study on equivalent 200,000 meter production runs which validates the above Apex statement.

How many sets of anilox rollers will the printer of the future need?

1 GTT calibration roll, then 1 full set of totally consistent GTT anilox, 1 white and to be safe 2 spare substitutes in case of damage. So for an 8 Colour press 11 anilox rolls in total are needed to print the entire range of possibilities, plus any coating specialities.

What is the saving potential?

We have a digital calculator where the printers can input there own current costs and it will give an accurate calculation depending if they convert 100% to 4C or just 20% of orders for example: press to 4C totally. You will gain 35% more production time per annum. You will save (excluding extra press time) up to 200,000 Euro per annum

If 4c will become the industry standard, 8c presses are a thing of the past?

Not at all as online shopping increases the demand on packaging is to be more eye catching and more tactile when the products are delivered to the home giving an instant recognition and a subconscious draw towards buying the product again. This means metallic, Matt Lacquer, gloss Lacquer, Tactile Lacquers and many other coatings will be used in the spare units This is another reason why 4C is the future.

Is 4c possible with any conventional anilox roller?

A very interesting question! If you do not understand the full impact the answer is a snap shot Yes. When you understand the need for process control and repeatability even when aniloxes are replaced due to external damage the answer is NO. To understand, pantone simulation has been possible for 30 years but has never 11 been more than a niche why is that? If you have 1 press and you finger print “snap shot” keep everything identical in the process for ever and ever then it works! But how realistic is that?? In my opinion, it is not realistic at all. As soon as you change the anilox even if supposed to be Identical there will be a variation in density therefore for example if you print a job in February then it comes again in July and the anilox is slightly different, then the Pantone simulation will be different and the whole process fails. With GTT you have a guaranteed consistency and a calibration roller to identify if the colour doesn’t match where the problem is: Ink? Plate? Press/operator? Anilox ? GTT is the only anilox that can 10 use the calibration roll system due to its very tight tolerance in ink transfer. To summarize if you successfully finger print with conventional anilox and produce 600 designs over 1 year If you then change an anilox, what will happen? The 600 sets of plates are now useless, unless you start to play with the ink ! When you start to play with the ink then. it is game over for Fixed palette.

How do you reproduce spot colours with 4c?

The ink/plate transfer and resolution is critical, once you have this correct the naked eye cannot see any dots and the colour looks full like a spot colour! When you then have consistency in your process the colour predictor software- like Equinox-calculates what is required in repro. All the

printer needs to do is repeat and repeat and repeat.

Can 4c offer improved print quality over cmyk + spot colours?

Again good question. You have to accept that current spot colours all have a Delta E tolerance set by the brands, this is because they are not as consistent as people think! The Answer to your question is “when 4C is working with the correct parameters, YES, 4C will offer more control and colour consistency, There are no wash down and there are no press returns to use away and future designs, 4C is printing by Numbers.

How do you convince brand owners to do without spot colours?

They are already buying packaging with pantone simulation, since Digital print is pantone simulation, The job of convincing brands to move away from spots has already been done by the manufacturers of Digital presses. All Flexo needs to do is prove its stability which can be done through 4C. This is exactly what you can do with GTT and Apex partners.

Advantages of GTT and why?

Best to see the Apex website however in short: Consistency Less wall area giving a more stable ink transfer Less plate wear, less doctor Technical Feature blade wear, predictable densities for Repro companies to take advantage from 13. 1% tolerances instead of 10%, how come? This is explained on the Apex web site. Without going into a full presentation, the GTT patent engraving is scientifically designed to produce the most calm and stable ink transfer, utilizing the laws of physics and rotation in combination with liquid displacement. It is an open cell structure, You need to understand that it is easy to state 1% tolerance but quantify this the tolerance. of what? We all know that 5 conventional closed-cell aniloxes can all measure 4.2 cm3/m2 with the same Lpcm but can still give very different densities due to the shape/ size and finish!! Apex prides it self on giving the best consistency of ink transfer on the market today.

How many customers use 4c for flexible packaging?

Again good final question. How many totally converted using only 4C in Europe? That amounts to maybe 20 printers, How many using some form of 4C simulation, therefore a few colours and a few designs. 1 would say 80% of the flexo / label market. You need to understand that it is simply not an option for the flexo industry to put its head in the sand and think 4C will go away, What the industry needs is a solutions based approach which is why Apex is involved with the market leaders in the printing process to bring not only a product and a full solution for the printers to assist in a smooth transition from what we call “Old Flexo” to “New Flexo”.