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Kodak flexo solution meets demanding needs of corrugated sector for Tadam

With plans to increase efficiency and customer satisfaction, Italian packaging prepress company Tadam has chosen to invest in a KODAK FLEXCEL NX Wide System and KODAK FLEXCEL NXC Plates to meet the demands of its broad customer base, including producers of high-end corrugated cartons. Designed to increase the visual appearance of corrugated flexo post-printing while opening the door for cost-saving opportunities such as the use of lower grade liners, the new additions to its pre-press product offerings will help Tadam, a long-time user of Kodak technology, achieve its strategic goals of expanding its business with existing customers and attracting new printers.

The aim: the highest quality for corrugated cardboard

Headquartered in Maltignano in the Ascoli Piceno province of Italy, Tadam is a prepress service provider operating mainly in the packaging sector. In particular, the company works with printers of corrugated cartons for the food, wine and footwear sectors, where top quality is a must. Bruno Amadio, Director at Tadam, explains his reasons for choosing to invest in the Kodak solution. “I have always tried to analyse and understand my customers’ problems. In a nutshell, in the corrugated sector, these are: absorption, achieving solid colour areas, and corrugations being visible after printing. Today, producers of corrugated cartons need quality and the Kodak system offers them a broader range of tonality, higher resolution screening, more efficient ink transfer and a higher level of quality on cardboard made of lower quality paper, thus resolving these problems.”

Differentiated Kodak technology

The FLEXCEL NX Wide System at Tadam includes the latest FLEXCEL NX Wide-C Imager, the first to be installed in Italy, and leverages KODAK SQUARESPOT Imaging Technology at an optical resolution of 10,000dpi to produce digital flexo plates that enable a broader tonal range, use of higher line screens, more efficient ink transfer and a higher level of quality. The newly introduced FLEXCEL NXC Plates have been developed specifically for the needs of the corrugated post-print market. Through the use of a unique printing dot profile and KODAK DIGICAP NX Patterning technology that creates a micro texturized plate surface to transfer ink more efficiently to the substrate, the plates enable significant improvements in highlight reproduction, printed densities and washboarding without the need to use increased ink volumes.

Benefits that extend beyond the corrugated sector

In addition to their corrugated client base, Tadam also service flexible packaging printers and clients in the pharmaceuticals sector. Mr. Amadio explains how working for the pharmaceutical sector contributes to the need to increase production efficiency and internal controls: “When you work for this sector, you need to follow certain rules and procedures because the pharmaceutical companies come in to conduct on-site audits themselves and we have to guarantee complete traceability over the whole production process. Today we have an internal system that tracks the entire production process, from the start of a job order right through to quality control and invoicing. This focus on quality control extends all the way out to our customers, including those in corrugated cartons and flexible packaging through the implementation of the KODAK FLEXCEL NX System technology and KODAK PRINERGY Workflow, which has brought undoubted benefits in terms of efficiency, predictability, error reduction and customer satisfaction. The level of customer complaints we now receive has been reduced to a minimum as a result.”

A focus on meeting customer needs

“Having used Kodak’s technology for many years, Tadam decided to place an order for the FLEXCEL NX Wide System and the newly launched FLEXCEL NXC Plates in July 2014.” says Michele Pioli, Packaging Segment Manager for Kodak in Italy. “The recent development of the Kodak corrugated solution included beta testing in Germany, Australia and North America, however this is the first installation of its kind in the Mediterranean cluster, and we are delighted that Tadam and their clients are experiencing the predicted benefits.”

“Use of the FLEXCEL NXC Plates with their flat-top dot structure (same height overall) significantly reduces the time for plate-anilox and plate-substrate interference regulation (impression), thus reducing start-up time and rejects, while also reducing the dot-gain differences caused by unwanted printing pressure variations during the run. This in turn gives a big improvement in tone and colour stability, increasing the quality and uniformity of prints as well as the bottom line, i.e. the profitability of the order.”

image Pharma Blister

Tadam’s customers have been able to witness all these advantages with their own eyes, as Mr Amadio explains: “We did some concrete tests by printing the same file using traditional digital plates and the FLEXCEL NXC Plates. The results were incredible. We were able to make a plate with isolated dots in a very small area. The solid colours really are solid because the density is comparable to offset and the corrugations are no longer visible.”

Mr Pioli concludes: “With Kodak plate technology, Tadam’s customers are obtaining more uniform print results and improved colour perception, and will be able to work with typical offset standards (Fogra). Kodak continues to be focussed on truly understanding the needs of specific sectors and delivering technology that not only improves print quality but also simplifies processes and reduces total delivered cost.”

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