MIRACLON CHIEFS TOURING ANZ

Top executives from Miraclon, the home of Kodak Flexcel solutions for the packaging industry, are touring Australia and New Zealand, reconnecting with customers.

Grant Blewett, chief commercial officer, who is based at head office in Brussels, and Andy Yarrow, newly appointed regional commercial director for the Asia Pacific, based in Singapore, are spreading the message of the benefits of the NX plate technology, which they say delivers ‘absolutely predictable and consistent quality’, thanks to its imaging technology.

The NX plate systems sees exposure first onto a carrier laminate sheet, which is then exposed onto the plate. Blewett said, “It is a one for one, exact reproduction of the bitmap file.”

The Kodak Flexcel NX plates have their origin in the innovative Creo SquareSpot technology, and use an exclusive multi-layered die coated technique. Yarrow told Print21 that “The consistency and predictability of the plate results in significant pressroom productivity gains. There are no moving targets with Flexcel NX plates, which gives the predictability and an expanded colour gamut.”

Most flexo plates in ANZ are produced by the 100 or so trade shops, rather than inhouse as now is the case in commercial print. Blewett said, “Brand managers demand absolute fidelity in colour reproduction, which is why there are the specialist trade shops.”

Miraclon is the brand name given to the Kodak Flexcel business when it was spun out of Kodak and bought by UK private equity business Montague. Miraclon now has sole rights to the technology, the brand name, and the distribution.

The Flexcel NX System includes imager, laminator, layout software and dedicated imaging and plate materials. It comes in five different configurations and a choice of two plate types.