In November of 2022, Catherine Haynes and Katherine Treadaway of APR presented a "Lunch and Learn" talk for the members of FLAG (Flexo Label Advantage Group LLC.): Looking for creative ways to put some PEP into your bottom line? You're invited to explore strategies for improvement and how to get more out of production. Catherine … Read More...
Category Archives: Pressroom
We have improved and enhanced many features. One important enhancement is the support for spherical measurement devices. For printers that print with metallic inks or on metallic substrates, the standard 0/45 or 45/0 measurement devices yield erratic results. A spherical device, such as the X-Rite Ci6x, is necessary for measuring highly reflective surfaces, metallic inks, … Read More...
Digital Label Presses Are Not One-Size-Fits-All Digital printing is a big part of the label business today, and digital printing equipment is not all created equally. Equipment options and performance characteristics vary along with the cost. The wrong digital press can cost you more money than you need to spend, which can slow the expected … Read More...
Supply chain management is often slow to change. Many companies still use Excel spreadsheets to plan their inventory needs. This is especially true for ancillary production items. In flexo printing, these items include mounting tapes, splicing tapes, doctor blades/end seals, cleaning supplies, safety supplies, pump hoses, and many more similar items. Previous thoughts were, “If … Read More...
Are you still skeptical on the use of synthetic doctor blades in your flexographic printing process? While it may be natural to have doubts, the benefits of these blades may be too good to ignore. Today's technology in synthetic doctor blades is not like the "plastic blades" of the past. Esterlam's biaxially oriented polyester offers … Read More...
Cleaning flexographic printing plates after a press run and prior to storage can quickly become a bottleneck, eventually piling up and lead to a labor intensive and undesirable job to accomplish manually. Left uncleaned, plates can be damaged or offer poor print results in subsequent press runs. With APR's line of Automatic Plate Washers, this task … Read More...
Dirty print is something many flexographic printers may struggle with. An online search will reveal quite a few cause and effect diagrams or charts for possible solutions for the common issue. In some cases printers go through the gamut, making sure their ink is in spec, dryers are balanced, adding slower drying solvents to the … Read More...
Flat-Top Dots Let’s start by stating what is meant by the term flat-top dot. A flat-top dot on a photopolymer plate is one that accepts the transfer of data from an imaging device to the finished plate at a 1:1 ratio. The 1:1 imaging ratio is measured in the file, post-CDI imaging, and ultimately on the … Read More...
Easy to Check - Often Missed Print repeats play an important roll in the performance of the finished product. You may have a beautifully executed award-winning package, however if your repeats are out of specification tolerances you may have to throw the product away. Worse yet, the product could make its way to the packaging … Read More...
Hardness, Density, or Compression? If you see someone measuring a foam mounting tape with a durometer gauge or have done so yourself in order to measure hardness, density, compressibility…hit PAUSE. With all due respect to tape supplier(s), the durometer (measurement of hardness) is not a correct method of measurement or term that should be used when … Read More...