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Kodak Celebrates First Eastern European Installation of KODAK FLEXCEL NX Wide System at Edas Pack

Leading Russian flexible packaging supplier Edas Pack has chosen to address increased demand for high quality results with investment in the region’s first KODAK FLEXCEL NX Wide System for digital flexo plate imaging.

As one of the largest flexible packaging suppliers in central Russia, Edas Pack, headquartered in Moscow, counts global brands Nestle, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Danone (Unimilk), and Campina, among its clients as well as Russian customers RotFront, Babayevskaya, and Kreker.

To maintain long working relationships with such high-profile names, Edas Pack is committed to investing in the latest plate processing and printing technologies. This is why it chose to meet its expanding business demands and increased production capacity needs with the first FLEXCEL NX Wide System (1067Ñ…1524 mm) in Russia and CIS countries.

 

FLEXCEL NX System

The innovative technology will enable the company to meet stringent quality demands to help protect brand image and deliver consistent quality day in day out. Alexander Kudryavtsev, Business Manager at Edas Pack, is sure the new system will achieve just that and solve the capacity issue for a number of years: “The FLEXCEL NX Wide System is a highly reliable, industrial solution that can cope with the strenuous demands it will be placed under here at Edas Pack.”

Sergei Doychenko, Chairman of Edas Pack adds: “The installation is the result of extensive work by prepress experts, who analyzed all the systems and units functioning here. Kodak may have entered the packaging market relatively recently, but they undoubtedly produce top-class equipment.”

Kodak collaboration delivers quality driven solution

Kodak’s packaging business in Russia and Eastern Europe is growing rapidly, with volume doubling each of the last three years. In fact sales during drupa 2012 were the same as for the whole of 2011 and Fidel Herranz, General Manager at Kodak Russia comments: “The first installation of a large-format system in Russia and Eastern Europe is a very important step for us. We’re proud of our collaboration with Edas Pack, and have no doubt that the company will benefit from a highly reliable and efficient solution, which will enable them to take a big leap forward in print quality. The FLEXCEL NX Wide System makes reproducing brand colors much simpler, which is crucial for modern packaging production.”

Fidel Herranz further expands: “Edas Pack always keeps pace with new technologies – it’s the ideal environment for the first installation of the FLEXCEL NX Wide System in Russia. We’re very confident that the solution will help Edas Pack to grow its customer base and offer even greater quality to its clients.

He continues: “After Edas Pack expressed the desire to purchase the FLEXCEL NX Wide System, we thoroughly analyzed its production environment and discussed how the company could get the most from the system. The efficiency and quality of the FLEXCEL NX Wide System’s flexographic printing will prove a key differentiator for Edas Pack.”

But what impact will the solution make? “The first wide-format system in the country is a very positive step,” states Dmytry Pchyolkin, Director at NLC. “The FLEXCEL NX System will enable Edas Pack to reach a new level of quality. Together with technicians from the Kodak Russia office, our technical support team will ensure the company gets the most value from this very advanced system.”

Increasing capacity to meet customer demand

Edas Pack’s plate processing area is equipped with cutting-edge technologies including a KODAK THERMOFLEX Mid II Platesetter for laser imaging of flexo plates. According to the prepress staff, the system is highly reliable and consistent.

The latest addition uses the KODAK FLEXCEL NX Wide Imager to achieve high-resolution imaging of the FLEXCEL NX Thermal Imaging Layer, as well as a FLEXCEL NX Wide Laminator to laminate the FLEXCEL NX Thermal Imaging Layer onto the FLEXCEL NX Plate. And unlike rival technologies, the FLEXCEL NX Wide System allows Edas Pack to create flat-top print dots with a uniform micro-level texturization pattern on their surface. This enables a significant increase in ink transfer efficiency, delivering higher densities and smoother solids with no increase in ink laydown. FLEXCEL NX System wins out

Sergey Teplyshov, head of Edas Pack’s prepress department, explains choosing the KODAK Solution followed careful assessment of the market available options: “For 18 months we evaluated nearly every system available from Russian dealers. But when we saw a FLEXCEL NX System in action, we knew it was the right solution for us, though the wide-format version was still in beta testing at the time. The FLEXCEL NX System allows us to solve the most complicated problems in the PRINERGY EVO POWERPACK Workflow System. And it eliminates everything that flexographers dislike: rounded tops of printing dots and uneven height of printing elements, problems with dot gain control, too low ink transfer in solids. The system adds a single, simple workflow stage, enabling us to achieve results that rival or even surpass offset. And solids are no longer a problem with KODAK DIGICAP NX Screening Technology, which is a real miracle!”

Fidel Herranz concludes: “The installation of a FLEXCEL NX Wide System at a top-drawer company like Edas Pack shows that the Russian packaging market is developing fast and demands higher quality.”

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