Nippon Color and Fujifilm partners for water-wash flexo solution

Mahan Hazarika: Please tell us about the partnership. What are the advantages/benefits of the partnership?

Priyatosh Kumar, HOD, GA division, Fujifilm India: Fujifilm’s GTM (Go to Market) in India hinges on collaboration and strong partnerships. We believe that it is this synergy that can provide the best value for our customers. We are very happy to associate with Nippon Color for our analog business where Fujifilm has a specific focus – especially in areas of water-washable flexo plates and process-less plates. Nippon’s long-term expertise and relationship with the customers in this space, combined with the value products that Fujifilm offers, should be beneficial to the customers.

Madhav, product manager, Fujifilm India: Both Flenex water wash plates and processless plates are innovative and futuristic products. Technological know-how is an add-on advantage in setting up such products in the prepress and press environment. With Nippon Color as a partner in this space, we are very much sure that our customers are getting advantages of both – high-quality Fujifilm products and Nippon Color’s technical support and expertise.

Akshat Pardiwala, COO, Nippon Color: Fujifilm is a very innovative partner that constantly develops industry-changing technologies and we are delighted to associate with them. With their latest developments in water-wash flexo plates and process-less thermal plates, we can offer users a more productive solution with lower processing times. Nippon Color will be displaying the water-wash flexo plate processor on Stand M-23 in Hall 5 at Labelexpo India 2022.

Mahan Hazarika: Please tell us about the main features of the water-wash flexo solution

Madhav: Fujifilm Flenex is an established ‘water washable’ flexo plate and has gained immense popularity all over the world. Flenex has some distinct advantages:

Productivity: Less than 40 mins of processing time. Since short runs are rising day by day in flexo, faster TAT is of extreme importance. This is where Flenex has an edge over other products in the market. Flenex is 300% faster than the leading solvent system and 1.5 faster than current thermal and water wash systems.

Typical benefits include an increase in the number of plates produced, faster job turnaround, maximizing press time, lower labor costs, or the opportunity to redeploy. In addition, the on-press performance includes reduced dot gain; better ink transfer for cleaner, brighter print results; much more durable; reduced plate swell.

Mahan Hazarika: Please tell us about the main features of the process-less plate solution

Madhav: We at Fujifilm believe in the sustainable development of the products. Superia process-less plates are born out of the same philosophy of product development. Superia ZD and the upcoming Superia ZX are world-class processless plates. As the name suggests, the processless plates completely eliminate the use of chemistry in the offset prepress.

All our Processless plates offer excellent run length, robust scratch resistance, better latent image visibility and faster output. ZX has improved durability by using Extreme Adhesive Bonding Technology for longer press runs that allows the user to expand the range of work being done with a process-less plate while delivering better stability on press.

Fujifilm’s new High Color Generation technology improves the readability and visibility of job contents, job numbers and other critical markings for prepress and pressroom associates thereby reducing errors and improving production.

Mahan Hazarika: What are the challenges prepress companies are facing today?

Madhav: Flexo market is evolving continuously. A few years back who would have thought that there will be a transition from gravure to flexo? But the improvement in quality has made flexo a challenger to gravure. Apart from digital, probably flexo is the only segment that will see double-digit growth for the next few years.

But Covid and the current geopolitical situation have brought enormous volatility in the market. The rising cost of raw materials and strict environmental laws have put excessive pressure on printers and prepress companies. Flenex addresses both of these concerns with a lower cost of ownership, lower operating cost and greener technological solutions.

Mahan Hazarika: What are the challenges in the offset segment and how does process-less plate help?

Madhav: In today’s volatile market, savings in time, materials and energy are the topmost concerns for a Printer. Processless plate is a big step in cutting processing steps from print production ecosystem and incorporating environmentally sustainable solutions.

Getting rid of processing equipment, chemicals, chemical disposal requirements and also saving on manpower and time can be of great help. As far as the domestic offset plate market is concerned, processless plates especially suit the requirement of high-volume segments such as newspapers and publications. The Superia ZD and ZX are much more durable and develop faster on the press; thus, addressing the concerns of rising material, manpower and energy costs.