Customised flexographic printing

Two flexographic printing machines, the 8-colour (gearless) Flexo Marte 1200 and the 6-colour (geared) Flexo Saturno 1200, will be exhibited by BFM at its headquarters in Solbiate Olona, near Varese (Italy), concurrently with the Converflex 2013 fair, which will take place in Rho (near Milan) from 7 to 11 May. The flexographic printing machines offered by the Italian manufacturer are highly customised so as to meet the specific needs of processors in terms of technical characteristics, reel diameter and print length.
For example, producers of film for the mineral water sector need a print length of up to 1200 mm, which means using printing drum of up to 2200 mm to allow the use of larger and more cumbersome sleeves. In developing its machines, the company adheres to the basic principle that in flexographic printing - an extensive process that is also characterised by consistently high standards - solutions absolutely able to meet all production requirements simply do not exist.
The special feature common to all the solutions developed is flexibility, given that nowadays most processors produce small product lots, which therefore means frequent stops and numerous setup changes. This is why sleeves have been developed that, thanks to an air spindle that is permanently present in the machine in a "cantilever" position, allow quick process changeovers. Furthermore, for colour changes, automatic and semi-automatic systems have been developed for cleaning the doctor blade and the anilox cylinder.