REVO Brings Digital Control to Flexo Presses

Flexo press owners faced with demand for shorter runs have been actively seeking new techniques to accelerate and streamline job changeover and color management. So far, press vendors have offered up presses that speed up plate changes, yet still require stopping the press for every job change. Advanced color management techniques have enabled use of additional colors to expand the gamut, but it’s still anything but a seamless process. And still, when faced with multiple short runs and substantial color shifts between jobs, the overall processes are less than optimal when compared with many of the latest digital presses and even some hybrid flexo/inkjet machines.

But that may be about to change.

The REVO Digital Flexo Revolution collaboration of eight industry leaders has resulted in a new approach to flexo printing that may well delight flexo press owners. AVT, Adare, APEX, Dupont, ESKO, Flint, GIDUE and UPM Raflatac have teamed up to put the flexo printing process under digital control. Process consistency, efficiency and cost reduction are REVO Revolution’s objectives, targeting short runs, color quality and broader flexibility. Together they developed new software, hardware, UV flexo inks, digital plates, new generation anilox rollers, seven-color separation, standardized substrates, and digital automation on press.

These varied partners bring specialized knowledge and dedicated products from their own specific areas of the flexo industry. The result is the 17” wide M5 GIDUE REVO UV Flexo press, rolled out last week at an open house at All Print Resources in Glendale Heights, Illinois. It demonstrated all aspects of the GIDUE Excellence Technology (ExcelPrint, ExcelDie and ExcelCut) for the automatic "non-stop" exchange of print cylinders, magnetics and flexible dies and all the concrete benefits of significantly reduced waste and set-up time and no need to change inks or anilox rollers. All the printing and converting operations are performed using digital control. The high-level view is this:

• The press features seven ink colors (CMYK plus green, orange and violet), which when digitally controlled, are claimed to be capable of providing over 90 percent of PMS colors.
• Decreased anilox inventory
• Increased uptime
• When it’s time to change jobs, new plates at each printing station can be automatically rotated into position without stopping the press. The plate previously in use can then be changed so it is ready for the next job. This plate changeover technology—not dissimilar to that used on some offset presses—provides a clear advantage over conventional flexo presses, although the changeover is still no where near as fast as the almost instantaneous changes that can be made on a true digital press.
• Because the inks and the printing are under computer control, the process is quick and waste between jobs can be measured in about a couple of press lengths.

More information and videos are available at www.revo-digitalflexo.com.

My Take

The M5 Revo press is a compelling example of how flexo technology can be adapted and readied to compete with some of the capabilities of digital presses. It is not a true digital press, but it should fit well in the comfort zone of many flexo press owners who need the fast changeover capabilities but want to retain the features of flexographic printing.