Nägele Digital Repro installs Kodak Flexcel Direct

Since 1975, Nägele Digital Repro, based in Kempton, Germany, has specialized in pre-press work and the production of printing forms for flexographic printing for the packaging market.

Kodak said that to meet the current and future requirements of its brand manufacturer and packaging producer customers, Nägele Digital Repro has extended its production capabilities with a Kodak Flexcel Direct system for the direct engraving of elastomer flexographic plates and sleeves.

Nägele Digital Repro already operates a number of Kodak systems, such as a Flexcel NX, with Kodak Flexcel NX Plates now accounting for 70 percent of the company's photopolymer plate production.

Further, direct laser engraving is not completely new to Nägele Digital Repro as the company already uses a carbon dioxide laser system.

Manfred Nägele, founder and senior director of Nägele Digital Repro, said: ‘In addition to extending our underlying capacity, the Flexcel Direct now allows us to manufacture high-quality imaged elastomer plates and sleeves. For example, at screen rulings of up to 60 lines per cm, we can engrave a printable tonal range of 1-99 percent by modelling the dot edges accordingly.

‘What’s more, the Flexcel Direct system allows us to manufacture ester-resistant elastomer plates, as an alternative to special photopolymer plates, when two-component inks or varnishes are to be used during the printing process.’

The pre-existing carob dioxide laser system will still be used by Nägele Digital Repro for simple linework jobs, while the Kodak Flexcel Direct will be used for more complex work.

It now supplies 10 different packaging printers of varying sizes with laser-engraved plates and sleeves.

‘As far as sleeves are concerned,’ said Manfred Nägele, ‘the elastomer sleeves manufactured on the Flexcel Direct are of a higher quality than LAMS photopolymer sleeves.

‘Another advantage lies in the fact that the delivery times for elastomer sleeves are significantly shorter and the purchase price is slightly lower. The elastomer printing forms stand out due to their excellent ink transfer capabilities and the long print cycles that can be achieved before cleaning is required, and the use of sleeves again opens up the prospect of significant savings due to the large reduction in setup times at the flexo presses.’

By extending its flexographic printing technology to include Flexcel Direct, Kodak said Nägele Digital Repro is now positioned to meet the specific needs of packaging printers with its wide range of photopolymer and elastomer printing forms.

‘With the Flexcel Direct system, we have achieved a new quality level that was not previously possible in the field of direct engraving,’ concluded Manfred Nägele.