Flexo Wash celebrates 25 years

Flexo Wash came into being a quarter of a century ago when Danish label printer Henning Kongstad became frustrated with the time and effort required to clean and maintain his printing presses. He identified the biggest problem as dirty parts and the knock-on effect they were having on print quality. In addition, the manual process of cleaning was taking up valuable production time.

Kongstad developed a machine that, through various modifications, became the first Flexo Wash parts washer. The benefits of the new mechanical washer were immediately obvious, as Kongstad explained: ‘Suddenly, we found changeover times were shorter and we had fewer press stops – more uptime means more print, and more print means more profit.  It was a simple fix that had a profound effect on productivity – and we have never looked back.’

Beginning by supplying the narrow web sector in its native Denmark and neighboring Germany, Flexo Wash now serves all sectors of the printing industry with installations around the world. Today, the Flexo Wash portfolio includes specialist anilox cleaning and plate washing technology, as well as the original parts washing machines. It has more than 4,000 machines in everyday commercial use worldwide.

By maintaining close contact with the market and its customers, Flexo Wash said it has been able to use this feedback to develop and refine its products, and develop a level of trust and loyalty with customers. ‘Most of our customers make repeat purchases, which speaks volumes for the reliability of the equipment and the dedication of our service team,’ said Kongstad.

‘We supply machines to major global groups and small family businesses in remote locations – both need technology and service they can depend on, and that’s been the key to our first 25 years of success.’