Soma, Marvaco and Flint Group have jointly developed ‘Tea Bag Designs,’ a demo print design to demonstrate print quality, stable production and increased productivity. In preparation for the K show 2019 in Germany, the Soma Globe technology center and its partners worked jointly to develop and present several new improvements underpinned by a story of sustainability. Visitors to the K show can see, firsthand, the quality of the demo prints and the efficiency of the printing process at Soma’s stand B21 in Hall 4.
Tea bag designs — greener printing with high quality and stable production
The design is HiQ EGP printed using CMYOGV + Silver + White Printing with a print resolution of 70 lpcm (178 lpi). Attendees will see the high speed and fast changeover print run being demonstrated live at the exhibition.
Printing by Soma
Soma flexographic printing press, Optima, enhances print quality, make-ready times and running costs, therefore reducing its ecological impact. Due to Bounce Control technology, this ‘bouncing design’ could be printed at high speeds with just 260-millimeter print repeat length. Special Eckart ink can be run with minimum leftovers owing to the Ink Cartridge technology.
Prepress by Marvaco
Marvaco is a prepress production company and flexo plate producer in Northern Europe. The tea bag demo print was printed on the Soma flexo press to demonstrate the eco-efficiency of the printing with Marvaco EGP (Expanded Gamut Printing).
Marvaco’s GreenerPrinting EGP repro–plate technology was used resulting in a more sustainable printing scenario together with high quality and faster production. Moving from spot color printing to EGP printing results in the reduction of the number of spot colors used and also eliminates the wash-off of the spot color inks. Moreover, as the design was run using high line screen anilox, it reduced total ink consumption and waste of all consumables.
Printing ink, plates and sleeves by Flint Group
Flint Group’s inks, plates and sleeves work seamlessly on the Soma press. The nyloflex FTS printing plate by Flint with inherent flat-top dots is suitable for multiple segments and reduces complexity.
Flint Group’s FlexiPrint MV, flexible packaging inks, are nitrocellulose-based inks that have been optimized for quality flexographic surface or lamination printing on a wide variety of films. The inks provide rub, water and heat resistance, and printability at high printing speeds, whilst being low in odor. These inks are tested according to the ‘Seedling’ and ‘OK Compost’ label, suitable on a wide variety of compostable packaging films and applications.
The printing on the Soma flexo press with Flint Group products, together with Marvaco EGP, reduces the environmental impact and is more sustainable and easy to use, as well as consistent from run to run. GreenerPrinting EGP is a new way of making packaging printing eco-efficient.
