Page 56 - Print 21 Magazine Jul-Aug 2020

Packaging
Perfection takes US FTA
Best in Show
Dandenong printer Perfection Packaging has scooped the prestigious FTA Best in Show wide web category Award for Print Excellence, crediting the use of the Kodak Flexcel NX plates in large part for the award.
Winning awards is far from easy in the competitive environment, winning them
in another country with far more competitive businesses even more so. But Dandenong-based Perfection Packaging has done just that, taking out the North America Flexo Technical Association Best in Show.
Its Eta Uppercuts Corn Tapas bag was hailed by the judges as
an exceptional piece of print, specifically mentioning the overall tonal range, standout ink coverage, and highlight reproduction.
Perfection Packaging managers Selwyn Hyman and Hylton Hode said, “The job was printed as any job that goes through our plant. This included normal press speeds together with
the standard process controls that
are applied to every job printed at Perfection Packaging. This job was not treated any differently. It is printed
at 133lpi screen ruling. We don’t
push high line screens – that way we minimise the challenges on press.
“The key to producing such a high-quality job is maintaining consistency on press with ink density targets, which we were able to achieve by using Kodak Flexcel
NX plates. The reprographics, provided by our prepress partner Kirk Group, are produced to a press colour profile specific to our presses and substrates. This allows proofs to accurately match the press outcomes.
“The Kodak Flexcel NX plates with advanced surface patterning allow for ink densities to be quickly achieved and maintained throughout the run without the need to increase impression.
This is coupled with the Kodak Advanced Edge Definition technology used on the plates, which keeps the type crisp and clean with both positive and reverse text.”
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Kodak Flexcel NX plates are now supplied by Miraclon, which bought the entire Kodak flexo business a year ago.
Established in 1978, Perfection Packaging expanded over the years and now occupies a purpose- built 10,000sqm facility in Dandenong South in Melbourne. It has five of the latest flexo presses and offers flexible packaging solutions for the FMCG industry, including food, health, and personal care.
It is focused on providing quality innovative products with customer service and produces work that regularly wins local and international printing awards –
“The results we achieved with this job challenge the traditional expectations of a flexible package printed by the flexographic process – something we aspire to with every job we do.”
– Hylton Hodes, Perfection Packaging
though Hyman and Hode describe this recent Best in Show win at the FTA as “the icing on the cake”.
Perfection was not working to a specific client brief, the managers say they probably didn’t even realise or appreciate the complexity of the design for the flexographic process. Hyman said, “They did have a similar product that had been produced
in gravure, so we knew running a minimum dot across the front of
the pack wasn’t an option. This is where Kodak Maxtone SX screening became critical.”
The design of the packet
is challenging for traditional flexography, as the image background of a coloured woven material has large areas where the background softly fades to white, with copy in these areas.
Running a traditional minimum dot across these areas was not an option, as it would have reduced the product’s shelf impact. So, to achieve gravure-like results where the tone starts at zero per cent, Kirk Group used Kodak’s Maxtone SX screening – which is tailored to the imaging
of the Kodak Flexcel NX plate – to deliver the visual effect of fading
to zero. This was applied across the entire job, which allowed for all colours to be clean by starting at 0 per cent.
Hodes said, “The results we achieved with this job challenge the traditional expectations of a flexible package printed by the flexographic process – something we aspire to with every job we do.”
The design of this job placed all
of the traditional limitations of flexography in sharp focus, with
fine reverse text, fine positive text, images and background that required the tone to start at zero per cent.
Hodes said, “The end result could only be defined as being flexo by viewing the result under a magnifying glass, something brand owners and consumers do not do.” 21
Above
Perfection: Eta Uppercuts Corn Tapas.