XSYS launches nyloflex FTM Digital flexo plate for water-based inks

The trigger for the development of the new plate is the acceleration in demand for more environmentally friendly packaging production. The nyloflex FTM Digital plate enables printers to use water-based inks on coated and uncoated paper for aseptic food packaging and corrugated preprint liner.

‘This latest addition to the nyloflex plate portfolio will have a broad appeal for printers serving different segments of the packaging production wishing to move to a more sustainable operation, but still retain the ability to produce the highest quality products,’ said Simon Top, product manager at XSYS. ‘The nyloflex FTM Digital will help fulfill the brand owners’ sustainability requirements by allowing printers to switching from printing on plastic film materials to printing on paper substrates with water-based inks.’

The nyloflex FTM Digital is a medium-hard plate with a smooth surface, offering a good ink transfer, ink laydown, and capable of reproducing sophisticated surface screenings. With no need for additional equipment or auxiliaries, the plate can be exposed in existing systems with standard tube lights or LED UV-A light exposure before solvent processing.

XSYS inherent flat-top dot technology helps ensure minimum dot wear and less dot gain than round top dot plates, thereby improving press uptimes to reducing costs and start-up waste in the pressroom. The new plate also features advanced dot sharpening to present fine highlights and a high solid ink density in print.

‘The nyloflex FTM Digital can be considered the flat-top dot counterpart of our well-known nyloflex ACT Digital plate,’ added Top. ‘The plate enables printers to easily tackle both coated and uncoated papers without the need to use two different plate types. In the past, a hard plate like the nyloflex ACE UP and a medium-hard plate-like nyloflex ACT were often combined to achieve the optimum result. At one customer case, we were able to reduce this complexity for up to 60 percent of the print jobs by using the nyloflex FTM Digital.’

nyloflex FTM Digital plates are available in 1.14 mm (0.045 in) to 2.84 mm (0.112 in) thicknesses and in varying plate sizes available for shipment at the end of May 2021.

‘As the optimum choice for long, high-quality print runs on more sustainable substrates, the nyloflex FTM Digital is the perfect response to the pressure from the market to find solutions that are better for the environment, but also cost-efficient,’ concluded Top.