Executive Forum: Anilox Roll Engraving

pP: Flexographic printing has made great strides in improving its quality to better compete against offset and gravure. How have improvements in anilox roll technology contributed to this?

Aaron Lessing, director of sales and marketing, N.A., Apex North America—As quality demands approach and surpass those of gravure and offset, the anilox roll requirements have been directly affected. Higher linescreens of plates and higher speeds of presses both necessitate the following: LPI is increasing to produce finer plate screens; volumes have to be right on, as presses with significantly better tolerances leave less room for error; and consistent cell release has to be there, meaning that as the roll ages, surface tension or release characteristics must remain the same so that ink formulations don’t have to change due to a roll not releasing the same as it gets older.