Apples and Oranges

“[Gravure is] addressing it on a number of levels,” says Lepp. “The hardware manufacturers have done a lot of work to put quick changeover features into the presses, just like the flexo press guys have. So the gravure press manufacturers aren’t standing still. They have a lot of features for quick changeability.” McKeown stated that during the last 10 years, the gravure market has developed fast changeover presses, laser-engraved cylinders, and plastic cylinder bases. “I think sleeves and lower-cost cylinders are going to address that cost issue, so that when an end user wants to make changes which require new cylinders [or] new engraving, that those costs will come down accordingly. And we’ll be able to beat that quick change and be able to survive in the shorter run markets,” says Lepp.