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Ocotber 7, 2008 — No matter what sort of manufacture a company undertakes, when a customer places a repeat order, an OEM has a right to feel pleased, for by and large it means the system or equipment supplied is fit for purpose and that the customer is satisfied with overall performance. However, when a repeat order is followed by another, and then another – there is good cause to pause and wonder what makes the equipment supplied so special.
In this instance the equipment supplied is the FlexiProof flexographic pre-press colour communication system, designed, developed and manufactured by UK-based RK Print Coat Instruments Ltd and the customer is Toyo Inks of Japan.
Toyo inks have recently placed an order for its 5th FlexiProof. The FlexiProof is a multi-tasking award-winning bench top system that enables users to undertake a variety of quality control, monitoring, R & D and print determination tasks, easily, quickly and in an affordable manner. Users can undertake colour matching, set standard test procedures, and even undertake pilot runs, freeing production machines up for income generating output.
Tom Kerchiss, RK Print Coat instruments Managing Director says: “ Since inks are utilised for their communicative, decorative and protective abilities, the materials and processes used in an ink system are based on end user requirements. For an ink system to be effective the formulator must be sensitive to the needs of the printing process, while at the same time taking into account the way the ink reacts with the substrate.”
Continuing he says: “Brighter, durable and more flexible – these are amongst the demands placed upon ink producers. For ink producers, this means formulating inks that work at higher densities with finer screens; inks that function optimally at faster press speeds, and where, possible, they must be environmentally friendly. Moreover, inks produced must be consistent, consistent from batch to batch and from run to run. Ink suppliers also have to be innovative, quick to respond to issues and challenges that face them and their customers, the printers and converters. The FlexiProof aids ink producers and others in meeting these goals.”
Apart from flexibility of operation, the FlexiProof provides a range of benefits. For example, colour matching off press, saves on press waste, which often runs into hundreds of metres; it also reduces machine down time (a valuable benefit especially for the printer) as adjusting inks on press can be time consuming, involving stops and starts, the bringing in to register, etc.
Also, because the FlexiProof is a scaled down but component critically exact version of a production flexo press, the FlexiProof is able to provide a user, whether an ink producer, a printer or other, with real world results, results that are reproducible on press.
For more information, e-mail sales@rkprint.com or visit www.rkprint.com.
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