Labelexpo 2023: Asahi to highlight the benefits of ECG

Asahi Photoproducts will demonstrate a variety of ways that the future of sustainable label and flexible packaging production is available today, including the value of implementing Expanded Color Gamut (ECG) printing and how the company can work with flexo operations to help them along their road to solvent zero. 

Printing with expanded gamut process colours allows for a broader colour gamut and typically includes CMYK plus orange, green and violet. By adding these three additional base inks into the process, producers can achieve a much closer match to traditional formulated spot ink colours as well as eliminate the need to wash up the press between jobs. Minimising or eliminating solvent use in the plate production process is a key step for many flexo operations in reducing their carbon footprint and offering a more sustainable flexo operation and a cleaner, more enjoyable working environment.

“We are pleased to support Labelexpo Europe 2023, the industry’s most important European show,” said Dieter Niederstadt, Asahi’s technical marketing manager. “In addition to featuring our Carbon Neutral AWP CleanPrint plates, we will also be focused on the value that ECG printing brings to flexo printing operations.

This includes higher quality and improved productivity, since press wash-ups between jobs are reduced or eliminated using this approach and it is easier to achieve almost all Pantone colours, greatly expanding the colour gamut that can be produced with flexographic printing. Asahi experts will be on hand to answer visitor questions and recommend solutions to existing challenges they may be facing.”

In addition, well-known ECG expert Dr Kai Lankinen will be conducting walking tours of five ECG booths, including the Asahi booth, during the show. Dr Lankinen, founder of Dr Lankinen Graphic Innovations, is a results-oriented international professional packaging printing consultant who is passionate about efficiency and sustainability through implementing expanded gamut (ECG) technology. Proven results include increasing productivity, better eco-efficiency, achieving cost savings and CO2 footprint reduction in packaging. Dr Lankinen has 20+ years of experience in the industry working closely with brand owners and packaging printers.

As recently as 2020, Pantone estimated that between 15 and 25% of all packaging is printed using ECG based on printers using ECG software. The company expects this to increase by more than half over the next decade, and there is an opportunity for that percentage to grow even more as flexo companies take advantage of the types of educational opportunities Asahi is offering at Labelexpo.