Asahi Photoproducts, a pioneer in flexographic photopolymer plate development, will be exhibiting for the first time at Labelexpo India 2018, scheduled from 22 to 25 November at the India Expo Centre, Greater Noida in Delhi/NCR. At Stand M6, Asahi will be showing its AW family of water-washable flexographic plate solutions featuring clean transfer technology, including its new AW-DEW plate with washout speeds 2.5 times faster than previous plates, making it ideal for on-demand platemaking and a more efficient flexographic operation in even the busiest plants. Visitors to the Asahi stand will be able to take with them a collection of UV flexo labels printed using AWP Clean Transfer and Esko Crystal XPS Technology.
Asahi’s AWP Clean Transfer technology provides a viable alternative to conventional flexo printing plates. Its water washable printing plate technology does not require high temperatures or VOC-based solvents. It provides high register accuracy, making it suitable for printing with a fixed color palette and enabling odorless production. In addition to saving time and money and reducing waste, it also supports energy savings, while assuring exceptional quality and brilliant prints with significant improvement in overall equipment efficiency (OEE) as compared to traditional flexo plates. All of this delivers the most efficient flexographic printing plates in balance with the environment resulting in high-quality printed materials.
Sunil Kokane, product manager for TechNova Imaging Systems India said, “We are always looking for new and better technologies for the Indian market, and demonstrating the AW family of water washable plates at Labelexpo India, promises to attract many visitors.” He commented, “At the show, we will be showing flexographic print samples printed using AW plates imaged on an Esko Crystal XPS system whose simultaneous UV main and back exposure produces highly consistent digital flexo plates. Many companies in India have already heard about Asahi AWP plates, and they will be looking forward to having easier access to these outstanding plates.”
Kokane pointed out that these plates offer significant advantages, including high quality print and many environmental benefits, including the elimination of solvents. Asahi’s clean transfer technology also reduces the number of press stoppages for plate cleaning, making operations much more efficient and allowing faster production times with less waste, even for very long runs. “Our partnership has been thriving for more than a decade, and we are excited that Asahi will be present with us for the first time at Labelexpo India,” he added.
Asahi and TechNova experts will be available to speak with visitors about the OEE benefits of Asahi AW plates. Makoto Nagata, assistant sales manager overseas for Asahi Kasei/Asahi Photoproducts said, “Printing operations stand to reap huge benefits from moving to AW plates. Companies like Czech-based Colognia Press are seeing press uptimes of more than 50%, up from 25% with their previous plates, and even report running a 22-hour job with one set of plates, no stops, and with very consistent quality from beginning to end. In our experience, AWP plates make these types of results very achievable for flexo printers.”
