Digitize. Automate. Connect. It requires careful integration of hardware and software to streamline package print production, improve quality of output and enhance the overall performance of the plant fitted with the devices.
A multiple recipient of the FTA Technical Innovation Award, Esko continues to develop innovative updates and upgrades to its solutions that empower print service providers to boost production, maximize efficiency, and improve quality and customer satisfaction. Simply put, it continues to drive digital transformation with updates to award-winning innovations. Its mission is to unlock powerful functionality to quickly and easily create premium flexographic plates.
Product lines targeted:
- Equinox—a 2014 Technical Innovation Award winner
- XPS Crystal—a 2017 Technical Innovation Award winner
- Print Control Wizard—a 2019 Technical Innovation Award winner
Here’s how the stories continue to unfold.
An Optimal Choice
Equinox is a module of Esko’s color management solution, Color Engine. It consists of spot color conversion software, image conversion tools and a proofing solution. Developed in support of continuous demand for shorter packaging production runs for targeted campaigns where product variations are increasing, it succeeds in assisting the packaging printer in meeting both challenges in a timely, cost-effective way.
All photos courtesy of Esko
How? By converting spot colors to a fixed ink set, to reduce downtime between jobs and increase productivity. There are two ways of doing this, so Equinox can convert spot colors to CMYK, or provide the option of expanded gamut (EG) printing. Using Equinox, printers can easily work with the standard or extended ink set that best meets the needs of the brand owner. Equinox provides complete predictability on the gamut, coupled with accuracy that can be achieved with any ink set, allowing printers to make the optimal choice.
Equinox is Esko’s solution for the implementation of EG printing. Equinox standardizes printing presses on a set of inks of each plant’s choice, affording both material and time savings, as the press changeover workload between jobs is reduced to merely changing printing plates.
Driving Productivity
In 2017, the global developer of integrated software and hardware solutions that digitize, automate and connect the go-to-market process of consumer goods was recognized for its XPS Crystal plate exposure unit, which optimally combines UV main and back exposure.
The technology uses LEDs that always emit consistent UV light as opposed to traditional exposure frames, which use lightbulbs with fluctuating output. Available in three sizes to meet all flexographic needs, the XPS Crystal delivers always repeatable, consistent plate quality.
Further driving productivity in the plateroom, Esko then introduced the PlateHandler, a robotic device connecting the CDI Crystal imager with the XPS Crystal exposure unit, and later, PlateFeeder-S to further boost XPS Crystal productivity.
“A prepress operator is usually required to manage multiple devices to produce a plate, which demands considerable time and attention to what is going on, and often incurs a risk of error,” explains Pascal Thomas, director of flexo business at Esko. “Integrating Esko PlateHandler into the system reduces the number of operator touchpoints, freeing up to 50 percent of their time and enabling them to attend to other more value-adding tasks, such as quality control, plate storage and plate mounting.”
He continued, “Similarly, the new Esko PlateFeeder-S has been designed to solve a number of common issues. For example, it enables distortion-free transportation of plates, avoiding damage when they are transferred manually from storage to the CDI. The table can also be tilted to pass through doors and docked onto the CDI to ensure perfect plate positioning and digital connection to the CDI Crystal. Its cover sheet can also be removed to provide free access from all sides without static charge input.”
Integrating the PlateFeeder-S into the flexographic setup also prevents idling between plates, due to the operator attending to other tasks, boosting productivity further by enabling an additional plate to be positioned for automated transportation into the CDI Crystal immediately when available. “The operator only needs to attend the machine once within each imaging cycle, to load a new plate and unload the exposed plate from the XPS Crystal,” says Pascal.
“What’s more, manual positioning is prone to errors and can be time intensive. But with the PlateFeeder-S, once docked, it becomes visible on the CDI touchscreen and integrates into the automated workflow, enabling the operator to position a new plate at any time during the 15-minute imaging process,” he adds.
“Built-in sensors also secure accurate plate loading via the PlateHandler, avoiding plate waste and further errors. The PlateFeeder-S eliminates 100 percent of the plate loading idle time on the CDI Crystal XPS, resulting in uninterrupted plate making, reducing system idling by up to 40 percent and delivering a 40 percent reduction in human touchpoints.
“With a CDI Crystal XPS with PlateHandler and PlateFeeder-S working continuously with optimum throughput and minimum operator attention, there is complete plate making automation. The overall impact can be an increase in plate making productivity of up to 15 percent.”
Triple Benefits
Esko Print Control Wizard was honored with an FTA Technical Innovation Award following its release in 2019. Not resting on its laurels, the following year Esko released a new updated version, which delivers the triple benefits of quicker plate production, improved graphic performance and reduced costs for corrugated converters. Print Control Wizard 20.1 delivers astounding postprint corrugated flexographic print quality.
The new version of the software uses all critical print parameters and variables—imaging resolution, exposure settings, plate, substrate, anilox, press type and inks—to simplify the flexographic plate making process for postprint corrugated packaging production. Print Control Wizard standardizes the generation of microcells in the highlight areas of the plate.
“Operators utilize an intuitive wizard-style user interface that unlocks powerful functionality to quickly and easily create premium flexo plates,” says Robert Bruce, RIP and screening product manager with Esko. “Crystal Screens for corrugated address the problems associated with recycled board liners, giving corrugated postprint converters the opportunity to improve print quality or if print quality is not a goal, reduce ink costs.”
He continues, “Screens can be imaged using our latest CDI Optics 100 technology, allowing plates to be made at 10-m2 per/hr. Utilizing the XPS Crystal brings a new level of plate quality and consistency for the corrugated market. This is obviously a win for both trade shops and corrugated postprint converters.”
Esko first developed Print Control Wizard in response to industry calls to simplify the implementation of screens and dot gain curves. “Our goal was to provide flexographic experts with the tools to standardize and simplify screen and curve creation, enabling them to achieve the best quality results without additional steps and checks being added to the process,” says Bruce.
“After Print Control Wizard was honored with a number of top industry awards, we worked tirelessly to develop the new enhancements, and we are delighted to have released this new version for the corrugated market as we continue supporting the work of print and packaging specialists across the industry,” he comments.
Esko Print Control Wizard reduces press stops for plate cleaning and makeready times, boosting overall equipment efficiency. It also enables printers to move to fixed palette printing due to the consistency the software brings to plate making.
A beta testing partner of Esko, Contact Originators in the UK is renowned for its innovative approach to packaging origination, graphics management and flexographic plate production. It was the first flexographic plate making company in the UK to have gained Esko HD Flexo accreditation in the corrugated industry.
Les Jones, print innovation manager at Contact Originators, notes: “What we’ve seen with Print Control Wizard is that plates are now more consistent, and we can produce them more quickly, which is great for a busy prepress environment like ours. However, it’s the benefits to our printer customers—and their customers, the brands—that really makes the software stand out.”
“We are seeing more color density for less ink laydown on low grammage substrate, while printers are reporting they are achieving improved final print results in less time, with associated improvements in material and ink waste—a real bonus in today’s cost and sustainability focused industry,” he further states.
“We estimate that Print Control Wizard is enabling our customers to save up to 20 percent on ink formulation too,” Jones adds. “Working in partnership with them, we are seeing more precision on each job, enabling less rework or waste …In real terms, this means they’re making savings on the number of plates used, as well as reducing setup times and ink consumption.”