When the sustainability of packaging starts with the flexographic printing form

U. Günther GmbH enables more business and brand owners to round off their sustainability strategy with innovative, sustainably manufactured KODAK FLEXCEL NX Ultra plate packaging printers

Sustainability is one of the current megatrends in the packaging market. Ecologically advantageous packaging is increasingly in demand from brand owners and retailers. With the expansion of its printing plate portfolio, U. Günther GmbH is responding to this trend with new, high-quality plates for packaging flexo printing, which combine sustainability and efficiency in production with high print quality and optimal printing properties. Headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, the packaging prepress service provider in Greven, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, is one of three beta testers for the KODAK FLEXCEL NX Ultra solution in Europe. This innovation from Miraclon, which emerged from Kodak’s former Flexographic Packaging Division, provides all of the unique technology benefits of the established KODAK FLEXCEL solutions, but works with solvent- and VOC-free, water-based processing. This ecological advantage is accompanied by a speed advantage a print-ready, high-quality flexo plate can be produced in less than an hour.

In February 2019, the FLEXCEL NX Ultra solution was introduced to U. Günther. Having been a user of KODAK FLEXCEL NX systems since 2013, the company was already familiar with the technology. Only the new FLEXCEL NX Ultra 35 processing system using the patented KODAK Ultra Clean technology needed to be installed.

The demand from brand owners and private label companies for environmentally friendly packaging solutions is increasing. This presents new challenges for packaging printers, for whom FLEXCEL NX Ultra can offer adequate support in the area of ​​printing form. This means that the sustainability of modern packaging starts with the flexo plate, says Stefan Schneider, Sales Coordinator at U. Günther. Plus, the FLEXCEL NX Ultra Cliche packaging printers offer a range of handling, quality and productivity benefits. They are very easy to integrate into print production. Current tests and initial productions show us that the plates deliver excellent print quality with high edge sharpness and first-class highlights. The plates remain open for longer in printing, allowing printers to benefit from longer cleaning intervals and less machine downtime. In addition, the printing speed can be increased considerably.