Frank Burgos' lessons in flexo printing at Flexo Gurukul

The event was attended by the top names from the Indian label printing industry.

Harveer Sahni of Fasco Printech announced Flexo Gurukul Spring 2014 open as he said, “The aim of this training series is to impart knowledge and empower flexo print firms. We intend Flexo Gurukul to become a reference point of Indian label industry, to become a flexo institute one day.”

Burgos initiated the training with a crucial element in flexo process, inks. Burgos said, “Ink is one of the difficult variables to control in the entire process.” He spoke at length about the three main types of inks namely, solvent-based, water-based and UV-cured inks, their components and functions of each component. “Any type of ink must perform appropriately throughout the ink train under extreme conditions,” added Burgos.
 

In the post-lunch session, Burgos discussed various tools and methods for monitoring basic ink properties throughout a print job and problems that may occur when ink is not controlled. He stressed upon the significance of measuring and controlling pH and viscosity of ink.

The next important constituent of flexo process that Burgos covered was photopolymer plates. Burgos explained in detail analogue and digital photopolymer platemaking process. He spoke about plate distortion, various UV exposures and how to establish exposure times in printing workflow to achieve reproducible results for dots, reverses and lines.

The final session of day one deliberated on Causes and effects of common plate defects that manifest during the processing, use and handling of photopolymer plates.

The evening concluded with Q&A session wherein Burgos answered specific queries from the delegates. The day-two of Flexo Gurukul will cover various other topics such as plate mounting tapes and anilox rollers among others.

Some of the marquee names that participated were Sai Packaging, Zircon, Webtech Labels, Best Labels etc.