Numex Blocks installs South Asia's first Esko CDI Advance Cantilever 1450 with HD Flexo

With this, Numex Blocks will be able to provide flexo print firms across India the high quality level that was achievable in offset or gravure. With the capability of the CDI Cantilever to image both plates and sleeves, the company is gearing up for the requirements of tomorrow's flexo market.

“Flexo is moving towards new levels of quality and there are significant growth opportunities across all markets in India. Since the latest generation of presses deliver a quality not seen before, we need to gear up to match the market demand for this high quality plate imaging,” says Nitin Patil, the director of Numex Blocks.

“We have a long standing partnership with Esko that spans back over ten years. All through this time our experience with Esko has always been excellent. Now that we need to add more capacity and meet the demand for higher quality, we didn’t look anywhere else. Esko’s CDIs are robust and reliable – and combined with HD Flexo technology they deliver the best quality. These solutions are the de facto standard in today's flexo world.”

Founded in 1985, Numex Blocks (based in Mumbai) is a renowned Indian pre-press trade shop which specialises in flexo and letterpress plate production for the flexible packaging, labels and corrugated markets across India.

In 2002, Numex was the first trade shop to offer digital flexo plate making in India. After ten years of successfully producing digital flexo plates, the company again takes the lead in the Indian flexo market with the investment in Esko's CDI Advance Cantilever 1450 with HD Flexo - guaranteeing its clients "the highest quality print results they demand".

Over the years, Numex Blocks also continuously upgraded its workflow software and works today with Esko's Suite 10 pre-production software. Nitin Patil of Numex is looking forward to the new Suite 12 that Esko will be launching at Drupa 2012.

While the CDI Cantilever enables Numex Blocks to meet demand for higher quality plate imaging, it's the capability of the unit to also image sleeves which offers the company "an opportunity for new business growth in the future".

“Sleeves offer many advantages to print service providers. Faster change over time, perfect registration and they last longer than plates,” explains Patil. “Since digital flexo sleeves can now compete with gravure for flexible packaging, we see a growing demand for flexo sleeves. Until now, no one in India could supply them. With the CDI Advance Cantilever 1450 we are the first. It allows us to develop a whole new line of business supplying flexo sleeves for the flexible packaging market.”

“India is an emerging market for packaging print and we notice a significant growth in the quality of flexo printing as it has to meet gravure and offset standards,” says Hoshi Deboo, VP Asia Pacific and Japan at Esko.

“Numex was the first to set the trend in 2002 by moving from analog to digital and has continuously invested in the latest technologies ever since. When looking for their next technology investment, Numex of course had several options to choose from. We are delighted that they considered the Esko CDI as the best platform to address the demanding quality requirements of the Indian
market.”

The Esko CDI Advance Cantilever series are designed to deliver the imaging on both plates and sleeves. The 1450 model images digital flexo sleeves up to a sleeve length of 57" / 1450 mm. It comes equipped with a plate loading table, and a vacuum drum-sleeve with Easy Clamp to securely hold down flexo plates of a size up to 42" x 60" / 1067 x 1524 mm, at a speed of up to 8.0
m² per hour.

With Esko's HD Flexo technology, the CDI Advance Cantilever offers the quality level, comparable to offset and gravure. Combining HighRes optics of 4,000 ppi with unique finely tuned screens specifically designed for higher imaging resolutions on flexo plates, HD flexo delivers extended colour gamut and improved solid densities, smooth vignettes and reduction of correction
and retouching of CT images.