With facilities near Salerno and Milan in Italy, Mavigrafica has become known for its innovative solutions as a prepress service provider to the Italian flexo printing sector since it was founded in 1997. In 2008, Mavigrafica identified Kodak as the right technology partner to help it differentiate itself in the flexo plates sector and purchased the first KODAK FLEXCEL NX System in Italy. Today it boasts one Kodak ThermoFlex Wide and three FLEXCEL NX Wide 5080 Systems.
Mavigrafica learnt about FLEXCEL NX Solutions at drupa in 2008, as Alessia Vitale, prepress graphic designer and daughter of Maurizio Vitale, the owner of the company explains: “My father was enthusiastic about the capabilities of the FLEXCEL NX System and decided to introduce the technology to the company. After we familiarized ourselves with the characteristics and exceptional print qualities, we started to offer it commercially. We were still unaware of the complete potential of the product, in fact there was even some scepticism. But customers have completely changed their minds and it has since become our flagship product. No other Italian company in this sector has managed to grow so much in such a short time, which is thanks to the FLEXCEL NX Systems, and, as a result, we’ve built a very strong reputation in the market.
“Over the years, Miraclon has been an excellent partner,” says Alessia. They have always remained very proactive, they are always available and do their utmost to respond to our requests and solve any problems. We are very satisfied with our relationship and are confident that it will continue in the future.”
Before becoming familiar with FLEXCEL NX Technology, Maurizio Vitale was unsure about the future direction for Mavigrafica. Today, the investment choices they made means its customers are able to solve multiple critical issues using FLEXCEL NX flat top dot plates, combined with Miraclon’s professionalism and experience, especially in prepress processing.
In addition to its KODAK ThermoFlex Wide System and three Kodak FLEXCEL NX Wide 5080 Systems (1270 x 2032 mm plate format), Mavigrafica incorporates other technologies from Miraclon such as Advanced DIGICAP NX Patterning that enables printing on all surfaces with a more uniform ink distribution and high density. Thanks to the surface pattern that is applied to the polymer plate, it enables lower volume of ink usage on an anilox roll but still produce an equally uniform background, sharp text and exceptional shading.
“We also have special screens,” says Alessia, “which allow us to improve highlights even more. All this technology has helped to promote us by increasing both our customer numbers and our turnover each year. Our customers are drawn to FLEXCEL NX plates as they ensure a shorter start-up time and a greater coverage and distribution of inks, with a consequential decrease in waste and cleaning. Even on long runs, plate cleaning is eliminated. This allows us to efficiently ensure customer satisfaction with high-quality printing. And not only that, but many packaging items that were previously printed offset or gravure have been converted to flexo.”
A full-service prepress partner
To guarantee a high-quality printing standard, Mavigrafica takes full control of the entire prepress workflow, from the graphic processing of the file and customizing it according to the needs of the converter, and colour profiling to the supply of flexo plates. It offers multiple services and works closely with customers; from profiling to the production of colour proofs, both in the Italian and foreign markets. It also has a dedicated web solutions capability that includes the creation and management of websites, and Alessia creates 3D models that give customers a 360-degree view of their product before it is produced.
In addition to the provision of websites and profiles on various network platforms, the company works closely with its customers from the earliest stages of the development of a new product, starting from the design, continuing with platemaking, up to when the plate is mounted. Among its customers are not only printers, but also several prominent Italian brands.
The company’s excellent work does get recognized. In 2018, Mavigrafica won two second places at the FTA Europe Diamond Awards: Flexo printing on paper – wide web, and Flexo printing on film – medium web. The first job (Co-op ready mixed meat broth) was printed by IPI, the other (Natura è-Taglia 3 midi) was printed by Tech It Packaging. They also obtained the KODAK FLEXCEL NX Certification from Miraclon, an official confirmation of the company’s ability to produce plates that are of consistently high quality and compliant with the rigorous production standards defined by Miraclon, in 2019.
“All these goals are possible,” explains Alessia, “because working with the FLEXCEL NX System means having a profiled colour proof that gives us the certainty of achieving a consistent print result from the first to the last metre of film produced. FLEXCEL NX plates allow us to achieve an excellent result if you compare the colour proof to the machine sheet – this is where our strength lies. Thanks to the high performance of the FLEXCEL NX System, in addition to our experience in prepress, we were able to push the boundaries of flexo to where this market had not yet been.”
