Contact Originators, a packaging origination and graphics management company, has a claimed a world first in the design and manufacture of a 2.8m wide mounted multi piece photopolymer flexographic plate. The plate is dimensionally accurate to 100 micron across the 2.8m width and enables the corrugated printer to maximise print yields utilising the full width of the press.
“Despite the claims of many press manufacturers, corrugated printers have not been able to truly utilise the full width of their presses, being constrained at 1.92m in reality when running multi colour tight register designs,” says Steve Mulcahy, CEO of Contact Group. Contact Originators was established in 1992 and is headquartered in Bredbury, Stockport, UK. “We have now pushed beyond the normal capability of corrugated flexo plate production, through a combination of new investment in hardware and software, to create a plate that on initial beta testing has successfully delivered a 48% yield improvement for a leading UK corrugated converter.”
The newly branded MagnaForma™ technology can today be produced on any plate type. Contact Originators works with a number of suppliers including Flint Group, MacDermid Graphics Solutions and DuPont and is in the process of conducting further analysis to identify the plate technology with the highest stability for optimum long run print performance.
The new MagnaForma solution retains a 0.2mm register across the print and the butt join, even when used on solid colours, cannot be identified due to the company’s investment in specialist mounting kit and software.
Nick Mitchell, Contact Originators General Manager, comments, “This is a big step in innovation for the industry. Our recent trials revealed a 45-minute saving per print run for the converter, unlocking additional capacity and volume with every pass. The solution is designed for large volume print runs. For example, we recently trialled MagnaForma technology on a high quality post print job for a large drinks brand, where a typical run length is 20,000 boxes; the results, time savings and increased yield were outstanding.”
“Our ethos at Contact Originators is that we lead and never follow. We were the first partners in the world to achieve FlexoExpert™ certification status with Flint Group and we are continually seeking innovative solutions and added value for our clients at every step. MagnaForma represents months of work and creative thinking but the benefits for our clients speak for themselves,” concludes Mulcahy.
