Readyprint installs UK’s first Esko CDI Spark 2120

Readyprint Ltd in Kidderminster has become the first company in the UK to install Esko’s CDI 2120 flexo-platesetter, designed for the narrow web, labeling and packaging markets. Sold through Litho Supplies, this recent investment has enabled the company to make a smooth migration from analog to digital plate making, resulting in ‘near-litho quality and perfect plates every time’, according to a statement.

The CDI Spark 2120 is a small footprint, entry-level priced CDI that is an ideal solution for narrow web/label trade shops who want to gain flexibility and a competitive edge. Readyprint is a small but dynamic enterprise with a successful twenty-year track record in the label printing industry. Its clients are major brand manufacturers, and Readyprint has earned an excellent reputation for its timely production of quality labels on all types of substrates from paper to synthetics. Readyprint has the technical capability to produce full spectrum from reel to reel, reel to sheet, duplex or fanfolded from 1 up to 6 color. The company is certified for the British Retail Consortium Global Standard - BRC/IoP Global – Food Packaging and Other Packaging Materials Category B, ensuring full compatibility with stringent industry manufacturing controls.

Readyprint preferred Esko's CDI technology in order to gain quality and cost savings with digital flexo platemaking. Syd Reading, managing director at Readyprint, explained: ‘Label printers predominantly print using the flexo process, but recently the label industry has advanced by leaps and bounds. For years we successfully used an analog system, but we could see the major shift towards digital flexo technology.’

Syd Reading has setup Readyprint to be a one-stop shop, handling everything from design to fulfillment. About 20 years ago he identified a market opportunity for creating labels with variable content. He saw that food, pharmaceutical and petro-chemical companies required labels with ingredients and instructions accurately printed in foreign languages, ready for export. This observation launched Readyprint's entry into producing designer labels and brand profiling. Syd Reading recognized the opportunities for taking a plain wrapper and adhering a smart, colorful label with variable information. By having label production in-house, Readyprint has gained the control and flexibility, both technically and in a creative sense, to tap into this specialized label market.

‘We invested in Esko's digital flexo technology to maintain the levels of accuracy and consistency required in today's label and packaging marketplace,’ said Syd Reading. ‘We are using Esko DeskPack 3.5 software with Adobe Photoshop plug-ins to feed files into the CDI 2120 platemaker. Esko’s digital flexo combination is the perfect solution for our business. The CDI 2120 has a small footprint, is well priced, and the plates are absolutely perfect every time. There are no variables.’

The right technical foundation is providing a reassuring sense that Readyprint is well equipped to handle even the most demanding jobs, now and in the future. ‘There's a feeling of confidence that the Esko machine gives us that makes a real difference. We have extensive experience in the label market and lots of ideas for the future. With the CDI Spark 2120, we can achieve amazing results and we know what to expect every time. That reliability factor is really important in a competitive marketplace where the time factor can be critical,’ stated Syd Reading.

According to Reading, the company has never required a sales team and has grown by its loyal customer base. He points out, ‘some customers have been with us from Readyprint’s inception. Esko’s CDI 2120 will continue to support this business strategy and our dedication to superior customer care.’

New flexibility and high quality are also delivering excellent results and ROI. ‘The litho and gravure processes do not provide us with the fundamental flexibility that the flexo process can. The Esko CDI 2120 enables us to produce identical work of a very high standard for relatively little extra cost. The ROI with this machine is phenomenal and very exciting,’ he concluded.