On 24 October 2017, more than 50 directors, engineers, senior and chief executives from the flexible packaging industry as well as important clients joined the successful open house event at Comexi’s Girona CTec facilities. Comexi and hubergroup presented their latest innovations and solutions in a busy event called Flexo Innovation Day, aimed at South-West European clients.
Presentations and demonstrations of the latest product developments and application options for flexible packaging printing were shown. Attendees had the opportunity to see first-hand, the latest technologies that are appearing in the sector and discover new value-added opportunities and trends that bring benefits to the flexible packaging industry.
Experts in the sector such as Sante Conselvan, president, FTA-Europe, explained latest world flexographic packaging trends, while Paolo Bonamigo focused his speech on the gravure-printed products that can be made by flexo printing; new challenges in raw material evaluation and the special innovative lamination inks and coatings that hubergroup have launched to boost print quality and efficiency. Dr Lutz Frischmann explained in detail how hubergroup has been able to overcome binder system restrictions and open up a new world of applications with its solvent-based Gecko Platinum Flexo printing inks. “Facilitate outstanding lamination bond strength values even under sterilization, pasteurization conditions and broaden the gamma of applications to flexible packaging flexo printing,” said Frischmann.
Giuseppe Gianetti also presented the properties of the innovative Gecko Frontal Uni Premium ink, which covers the maximum feasible application range available for NC (Nitrocellulose) based frontal printing inks while enhancing performance. “Nowadays, there is no need to settle for less business, more ink sets changes or reduce flexibility. With this solvent-based frontal printing inks, converters don’t have any restrictions and they can enlarge their portfolio,” said Gianetti.
Moreover, the new generation of hubergroup surface inks for multiple films PE, BOPP, chemical treated PET or Corona treated BOPA have superior wet adhesion and scratch fastness that enable further applications in surface printing. “Tactile varnishes give to the converters the opportunity to create surface effects combining optical effects like contrast gloss and mat with tactile experience, generating a lot of different combinations and applications,” explained Gianetti. Also, during the event, attendees could analyse 2K Paper touch, a waterproof paper on a plastic film while Dr Lars Hancke detailed the importance of haptic perception and tactile coatings.
On the other hand, Comexi’s flexo brand manager, Raúl El-Fakdi, explained new developments in the currently dynamic flexographic printing environment which the attendees could see in the demonstrations in conjunction with the benefits of hubergroup inks, and new Comexi’s new Cingular Match fixed palette technology that permits reduction of the printing run and minimizes waste while increasing efficiency.
Carles Rodríguez, Comexi’s brand manager for Lamination, and Albert Torrent, Comexi’s brand manager for Slitting, also explained and demonstrated some of the novelties in the laminating and slitting fields and especially the wide range of opportunities in retort pouches. Attendees were able to see three different solutions – a Comexi F2 MC press, one of the latest Comexi’s lamination developments, and S1 DT slitter with laser technology and integrated robot working in different jobs.
