ITR flexographic printing

In early summer 2008 Flint Group Flexographic Products added two new products to its range: nyloflex® ITR Thin and nyloflex® ITR Classic. This development underlines the company's special commitment to the endless photopolymer sleeve sector. Mario Busshoff, who as Vice President of Flint Group Flexographic Products is responsible for marketing management for the Flexographic Products division, explains this latest move in the following interview.

Question: Mr Busshoff, the development of products such as the new endless photopolymer sleeves is normally quite a lengthy process. Can you explain how these two nyloflex® ITR product variants came to be developed so quickly?

Mario Busshoff: Given future trends in flexographic printing, the nyloflex® ITR (In the round) product area is a strategically important growth segment for Flint Group. That is why we really pushed ahead with this development. In addition, the exceptionally short development time of just a few months also had a lot to do with the acquisition of Day International in 2007. As a result of this acquisition, Flint Group has been able to combine its printing plate operations with the rotec sleeves business in the newly formed Flexographic Products business unit. In developing the endless photopolymer sleeves we have therefore been able to draw upon extensive experience with ITR printing forms, sleeves and adapter systems. For instance, in terms of both the base sleeve and the manufacturing technology, nyloflex® ITR Thin and nyloflex® ITR Classic are based on existing rotec expertise.

Flint Group has also been able to call upon its wealth of experience in the field of polymers for printing plates. Taken together, these two factors enabled us to launch the products commercially in May 2008 following a very short introductory phase.

Question: How did the market react to the new ITR sleeves when they were unveiled at drupa 2008?

Mario Busshoff: Both during the exhibition in Düsseldorf and afterwards, users and potential users have responded very positively to Flint Group's decision to design the ITR products as an open system. This applies in particular to the sleeve dimensions, which were deliberately based on those of existing systems. The wall thickness of the Thin version is 1.570 mm, that of the Classic version 3.165 mm. These sizes are equivalent to using printing plates in the standard commercial thickness of 1.14 mm and 2.84 mm respectively. For customers, this in turn represents a kind of standard in terms of printing forms, regardless of whether a mounted printing plate or an ITR sleeve is used.

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