Miraclon wins FTA technical innovation award

Miraclon has received the 2026 Technical Innovation Award from the Flexographic Technical Association for its Flexcel Prime Plate, a next-generation flexographic plate technology designed to improve consistency, predictability and efficiency in the pressroom.

The Flexcel Prime Plate builds on the Flexcel NX technology platform and introduces Seamless Fit Printing capability, allowing full interchangeability with existing Flexcel NXH plates. Printers can adopt the new plate without re-profiling, file adjustments or press modifications, and can run mixed plate sets within the same job, removing traditional barriers to technology adoption.

The plate is designed to support faster start-ups, fewer unplanned press stops, more consistent print results across runs and improved durability against ink buildup and plate wear, enabling longer run lengths and reduced waste.

'The Flexcel Prime Plate highlights the true backwards and forwards capabilities of products launched 18 years apart, enabling printers to transition efficiently without the need to replace entire legacy plate sets,' said Kelsey Schmidt, manager of education delivery at the FTA.

'They wanted a meaningful improvement in press performance, but without the disruption of changing from established Flexcel NXH workflows,' said Reid Chesterfield, chief technology and innovation officer at Miraclon. 'That meant we had to make the plate better, but not different.'