Köstlin Prepress Services in Ditzingen, Southwest Germany, has always been open to technological innovations that increase efficiency and deliver cost savings, while allowing them to produce plates that deliver improved on-press productivity and consistent quality. This was also the company’s strategy in 2022 when they invested in PureFlexo Printing™ from Miraclon.

Accessed through FLEXCEL NX Print Suite for Flexible Packaging, PureFlexo Printing utilizes unique advanced plate surface patterns designed to resist the tendency of ink to spread or build up in unwanted areas during printing.

“The opportunities with PureFlexo Printing excited us. We saw that the technology would enable the printers we work with to achieve a more consistent production process and even higher quality print, especially when printing on film,” said Managing Director Marc Talmon Gros. Köstlin uses the technology on both FLEXCEL NXH Plates and FLEXCEL NX Ultra Plates.

“Our customers often comment on the significant improvement in consistency and the virtual elimination of trailing edge voids as proven benefits of using PureFlexo Printing.” The improvements were so convincing that Köstlin now regularly supplies almost 30 packaging printers with FLEXCEL NXH and FLEXCEL NX Ultra plates, all produced using PureFlexo Printing.

“FLEXCEL NX Plates from Miraclon set the market standard for productivity and efficiency gains on press,” adds Marc. “However, many other prepress service providers agree and offer these plates too. That's why we have tried to exploit our early investment in PureFlexo Printing as a unique selling proposition – at least for a certain period of time.”

He continues: “We believe that Miraclon is on the right track with developments like PureFlexo Printing to keep bringing solutions that allow both us and our customers to increase efficiency and productivity, save costs and simplify the flexo process overall.”

Marc adds that his sentiment also applies to FLEXCEL NX Central Software for automatic plate layout creation, which has been in use at Köstlin since early 2023. He concludes: “FLEXCEL NX Central has resulted in better utilization of the plate material and a reduction in plate layout time as well as errors. It also allows for much better production planning. In the past, we didn't have an exact overview of how many plates or square meters we had to produce. Since we know our capacity, we can now use FLEXCEL NX Central Software to carry out real production planning, prioritize orders and optimize system utilization.”

Köstlin has been using KODAK FLEXCEL NX Technology since 2013. In addition, the family-run business, with around 50 employees, has been using the FLEXCEL NX Ultra Solution for solvent-free, VOC-free, water-based flexo platemaking for several years now. The business activities are primarily focused on food and cosmetics packaging for brand owners and retail private labels. FLEXCEL NX and FLEXCEL NX Ultra Plates, which are produced on a FLEXCEL NX Wide 4260 System, today account for approximately 70% of the company's total flexo plate production.