Soma Engineering has announced the installation of a second Soma press at a Polish flexible packaging converter, PPHU Pabex. The new 1,050 mm wide, 10-color Soma Flex Imperia press will be used to produce high quality printing on laminates and pouches for the food industry and joins an existing 8-color Soma Flex MIDI press supplied seven years ago.
Adam Filipczyk, one of the four co-owners of Pabex said, “We decided on the purchase of the Imperia based on the consistent reliability and problem free operation of the first Soma press that even after seven years, is still producing high quality work to meet customer expectations. High quality engineering at a competitive price and Soma’s ability to react quickly and flexibly to our needs in terms of service and support also influenced our decision.”
Pabex specializes in offering individual tailored solutions for food packaging as well as supplying products for larger commercial channels such as Lidl and Biedronka. The emphasis is always on the production of high quality graphics and the integrity of its products to maintain shelf-life. “The high performance Imperia provides us with a platform to fine tune the flexo printing process to gravure and offset level,” adds Filipczyk. “We aim to refine the printing processes on this press by the end of this year to the extent that customers will not recognize flexo quality from gravure or offset. The new press is twice as fast as the first and its operating speed is almost 400 metre a minute on 8 to 10-color jobs. Our printers are happy with the operating parameters of the machine. Taking into account a few months learning curve, we anticipate the competitive advantages of the new press will be fully visible after two years.”
