Leading Ukrainian printer Ukrpol Printing Company has brought flexographic platemaking in-house by installing a FLEXCEL NX Wide 4260 System from Miraclon.
The platemaking system — supplied by Uniprint, the Miraclon representative in Ukraine — is part of a significant investment in wide-web flexo production at Ukrpol. The company recently installed a 670mm-wide press, and an even wider 1300mm press is due to be installed soon. The FLEXCEL NX System and presses are located in a new dedicated flexo facility at Ukrpol’s plant in Stryi, in the Lviv region of Western Ukraine.
A steady shift to flexo production
Ukrpol offers packaging customers all four production options: gravure & offset collectively making up 70% of production, flexo 25% and digital 5%. However, technical director Andriy Boichuk says the company has identified an opportunity to increase flexo’s proportion: “There are applications suited to each process, but the conditions are right for flexo to take a bigger share. Shorter run-lengths and tighter delivery deadlines play to its strengths and give it an edge over a process like gravure. It’s also a more sustainable process. So, we are seeing cost- and time- and sustainability-conscious customers shifting packaging to flexo from gravure.” He adds that he expects this trend to continue, and credits FLEXCEL NX Technology with a major contribution to flexo’s transformation into a modern production process for high-quality packaging.
Ukrpol looked at systems from a variety of suppliers before deciding on the FLEXCEL NX System. “We conduct our due diligence so looked at all the options on the market,” says Andriy, “but it was always likely that we would choose Miraclon. We know and trust the heritage of the FLEXCEL NX System and firmly believe that it is the superior technology option that delivers the best on-press efficiency benefits for us. The excellent installation and after-sales service and support is an added bonus!”
Founded in 1997, Ukrpol produces packaging for leading brands in a wide range of sectors, principally food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and household products. The company employs almost 600 people at two factories in Stryi, with over 23,000m2 of production space. Almost 30% of output is exported, to Germany, Belgium, Poland, Sweden, the Czech Republic and the Dominican Republic.
