La Prensa invests in Fujifilm Flenex FW to boost production and reduce environmental impact

Based across four locations in and around Milan, La Prensa is expecting to produce more than 18 billion labels in 2017 and is targeting turnover of 25 million EUR (29.6 million USD). Operating in the food and beverage sector, La Prensa uses solvent and UV printing to produce many different types of labels: paper labels for bottled water, chocolate and canned goods; adhesive and thermal transfer labels; plastic labels and packaging; and shrink sleeve and adhesive film.

In a bid to increase its production speeds and reduce its environmental impact, La Prensa made the decision in late 2016 to invest in Fujifilm’s Flenex FW water-washable plates.

‘We had a long wish list of things that we wanted to see in a new plate system,’ said La Prensa Group CEO Emanuele Delfino. ‘Optimal color transfer and high-quality print were non-negotiable and we wanted a plate that combined those benefits with a fast processing system and reduced chemical use. Fujifilm Flenex plates wash clean in water and a simple detergent, which means we have dramatically reduced chemical consumption and waste, and have reduced the unpleasant fumes in our factory to near zero, which has greatly improved the working environment for our staff.

‘Our Flenex investment also means we can look forward to substantially less downtime on our presses, as the plates are faster to produce and last longer on press than the solvent-wash plates we were using previously. This will be especially valuable when we have a customer on site to approve a new job.’

Delfino continued: ‘It’s still relatively early days, but we have already noted that the quality of print from the Flenex plates holds up extremely well over long runs, our target is to get up to 600,000 sqm per plate set.

‘Already the feedback we’re receiving from customers, including some of the biggest bottled water companies in the market, is excellent. They have been very happy with the quality of work the Flenex plates have delivered and we’re now going to be able to deliver that level of quality to them, and to all our customers, more quickly and more reliably than we ever could in the past.’