SubscribeIntroducing Kongsberg MultiCUT new milling tool, demonstrating CDI Spark XT and Scope workflow solution on stand 1130 in hall 17
Links
Scope
Kongsberg XL
Contacts
info.eur@esko-graphics.com
At Flexo 2005, the major flexo event in the UK taking place in Birmingham from March 15-17, Esko-Graphics will introduce the new MultiCUT multi-purpose toolhead for the Kongsberg XL22 samplemaking table. The company will also showcase a CDI Spark XT, CTP for Flexo, and demonstrate Scope workflow solutions. These solutions will be demonstrated on stand 1130 in hall 17. Furthermore an HP representative will be available on the Esko-Graphics booth to demonstrate the compatibility of HP Indigo presses with Esko-Graphics’ FlexRip and Kaleidoscope Scope software components.
Esko-Graphics is sponsoring the EFTA Awards 2005, which will take place in the Hilton Metropole Hotel on March 16.
Recognized market leadership in flexo platesetting
Due to new technology developments and enhanced quality offering, the UK flexo market has largely adopted digital plate making, with many companies now handling plate production in-house. Esko-Graphics plays a significant role in supporting the successful transition via their CDI flexo platesetters, the world’s first digital imagers for flexo plates. 27 platesetters out of 560 global installations are now operated in the UK. About 90% of all worldwide digital flexo plates are imaged on an Esko-Graphics CDI flexo platesetter.
Toby Parker, Managing Director of TW Parker and reputed Esko-Graphics customer comments: “We have always used CDI plates which give us a quality that cannot be beaten. With Esko-Graphics latest CDI Spark XT we know we have the highest quality plates in the business.”
DuPont and Esko-Graphics have successfully met the challenge for an increasing demand for digital plates in the flexo packaging market. At DuPont, Boyd Cushing, UK Sales Manager says: "Today flexo is not just an alternative process but also the preferred option for many brand owners and packaging designers. The Esko-Graphics CDI range is tried and tested and customers continue to tell us how their businesses have improved since investing. We are also now seeing a new and marked expansion of this technology into growing markets - most recently in Ireland."
“Developments in digital plate technology have been significant,” states Hubert Scheir, Director of Marketing EMEALA at Esko-Graphics, “Digital flexo plates allow for a clean and environmentally friendly production process that results in stable press-ready plates immediately after processing and assuring top quality print. In the end this is what a Brand owner is looking for: his consumer will be attracted by fine packaged products”
Increased productivity for CDI flexo image setters
Esko-Graphics will elaborate on the future of Digital Flexo at Flexo 2005:
- the CDI Advance with the first automatic plate loading system (APL): automatic removal of the protective cover sheet, fully automatic plate loading, imaging and unloading.
- the new Sleeve Option on the CDI Compact offers a cantilever arm – a system that allows one person to easily change a sleeve without additional tools. The special system, which fits on a CDI Compact flexo imager, is designed for middle-size web formats.
Esko-Graphics recently introduced a number of new software updates to enhance quality and productivity of CDI flexo platesetters, including Optics 80, Grapholas, Superskip and PlatePatcher. At Flexo 2005, Esko-Graphics will demonstrate these Scope Software modules in combination with CDI Spark XT, which can image plates of 900 x 1200mm.
Introducing new MultiCUT toolhead for Kongsberg sample making tables
The Kongsberg XL22 is ideally suited for cutting, creasing and scoring low volume corrugated and folding carton jobs because of its excellent tooling versatility. The new multi-purpose toolhead MultiCUT will now be introduced and demonstrated for the first time in the UK market. This toolhead further enhances the cutting capability of the Kongsberg XL tables for package, sign and display applications.
The MultiCUT toolhead features two configurable tool stations and a milling spindle. The powerful 1 kW spindle has a rotation speed adjustable up to 60,000 RPM, and the system’s sophisticated remote control software enables optimal RPM settings to be stored along with feed information for different materials, thus avoiding errors and increasing productivity. Targeted materials include plywood, acrylics, polycarbonates, Dibond, rigid PVC, wood, and high pressure laminates.
Innovative Scope workflow environment
Esko-Graphics will demonstrate its innovative workflow environment Scope, covering a wide range of functions, from job and product specification, through graphic and structural design and expert pre-production operations, to flexo platemaking for printing and toolmaking for converting. Workflow management software automates processes, and if fully implemented, allows an efficient workflow and communication between supply chain partners.
Another advantage is that the converter and prepress provider gain direct access to trapping, color management, step and repeat, and other processes. Other more peripheral partners in the supply chain – print buyers, brand and product managers, account managers, financial controllers and operations supervisors – can also tap into a workflow’s databases and processing resources. These are facilitated via easy-to-use, and easy-to configure web interfaces, or through standardized JDF and XML links with ERP, plant management or other business systems.
Recently announced Scope software upgrades include:
BackStage 2.0 comes completely JDF-enabled, capable of accepting instructions that ‘pilot’ BackStage tasks to correctly process a job, and to remotely drive other software functions via JDF commands. BackStage also allows for job parameters to be defined upfront, to help reduce errors throughout the subsequent job processing. An improved graphic user interface provides intuitive menus and faster access to desired actions.
FlexRip 5.2 will feature Screenfilter, an option that detects screening information embedded within a PostScript file, and allows users to substitute and control Esko-Graphics screening. Kaleidoscope ICC color management and IntelliCurvePro - for strategy based dot gain control - adds interactive and user-friendly tools for perfect printability regardless of the printing technique used.
DeskPack now fulfills the power of the desktop for packaging design, as it turns Adobe Illustrator seats into full-featured BackStage clients. It brings the ability to import CAD layouts into designs, to create dynamic barcodes, to view separations including a plate preview, to control step and repeat operations for labels, and to view designs interactively in realistic 3D. Fully completed files can now be sent directly to a FlexRip for output.
ArtiosCAD 6.0 introduces a breathtaking new design feature: 3D Designer. In the past, in order to create a folded or corrugated box, designers had to accurately measure the product to be packaged, and to manually convert that information to a two-dimensional design. With 3D Designer, the operator now can start from a CAD drawing or 3D model of the object, import it into ArtiosCAD, and construct on-screen a three-dimensional package around the product. Next, the design is unfolded into a two-dimensional drawing. 3D Designer eliminates the complicated and iterative task of measuring and testing package concepts.
WebCenter 4.0 provides secure project and file management to the desktop – anywhere there is web access. Users can manage projects and documents from work, from home, or anywhere in the world. Projects in WebCenter can contain any type of document, including CAD files, graphic files, spreadsheets, proposals, purchase orders, or customer specifications. WebCenter 4.0 automatically maintains version control and history for each document stored on the server. As documents are added or updated to projects, the version history for each is automatically maintained.
“As the cost of digital flexo plate making continues to decline, and the quality of the finished product continues to demonstrate remarkably exceptional results, we foresee that more converters will invest in the technology,” comments Hubert Scheir, Director of Marketing EMEALA at Esko-Graphics. “Esko-Graphics has developed powerful pre-production solutions for digital flexo imaging, samplemaking and workflow solutions, which have proven to result in increased productivity on the workfloor and high-quality package prints.”