Still Going Strong

Wolk says, “Prepress (engravings) charges and lead times for cylinders are two of the biggest challenges for gravure printers. Flexo plates are much cheaper and can be turned around in days versus weeks.”

The bottom line

Gravure’s strength is its quality, which remains unmatched. Gravure printers are employing the flexographic process for certain customers and have determined that gravure and flexo each have a place in their businesses. Kirchhoff says, “We have seen marked improvement in flexographic printing quality and have recently installed a flexographic printing press, which allows us to supply high-quality printing for short runs more cost-efficiently.”