Flint Group launches Automated Plate Processor

Flint Group Flexographic Products has launched its nyloflex Automated Plate Processor (APP), a fully automated processing line for flexographic printing plates.

The nyloflex APP combines a round brush washer, a dryer including eight drying drawers, a unit for post exposure and light finishing (UV-A / UV-C) and a stacker with eight drawers, offering in total a capacity of up to 120 plates / 320 sq m per day. The nyloflex APP covers plate formats up to a maximum of 1320 x 2032 mm (FV format) and from 0.7 mm to 7.0 mm plate thickness.
 
‘Improvements in productivity and lower costs are increasingly important in today’s printing industry, and automation is seen as one way of making a significant impact on achieving these targets,’ said the company in a statement.  ‘Flexo plate making is still far behind in automation compared with offset and gravure.  Working with print-ready files, offset and gravure printing forms are produced today with high levels of automation.’
 
A nyloflex APP prototype will shortly be available for customer demonstrations in the new Flint Group showroom in Stuttgart, Germany, and In April the first nyloflex Automated Plate Processor will be installed at a trade shop in Central Europe.