Omet | 43Omet sharpens flex pack focus with X7 demoOmet’s XFlex X7 mid-web press was demonstrated at a fexible packaging-focused open house that also included a visit to flm converter ACM. Andy Thomas-Emans reports“The press was shown printing a high-quality shrink sleeve label, 8 colors UV fexo plus cold foil application, with two extended dryers for soft touch matte varnish application and an embossed varnish”n May Omet hosted an open house dedicated to fexible package converting at the company’s Innovation Park, its new permanent showroom and demo center in Molteno, Italy. IOver 60 visitors attended the event that featured live demonstrations of fexo printing of shrink sleeve labels on a mid-web Omet XFlex X7. This was followed by a visit to fexible packaging specialist ACM Spa in Cremosano, who were printing shrink sleeve labels and fexible packaging on an XFlex X7 and Varyfex presses.Marco Calcagni, Omet sales and marketing director, opened the event with a speech that emphasized the increasing customization of the presses manufactured by Omet today, with tailor-made XFlex X7 demostrationconfgurations making use of Omet’s R&D expertise.says.Focus on sustainability Experience in the feld showed that improperly cleaned anilox The open house hosted a presentation by Fabrizio Radice of and plates led to over three hours of press stoppage time a week, Corapack, who focused on new compostable and biodegradable culminating in costs to the business of almost 30k Euro. ‘This fexible packaging materials. The application was for dry pasta means the payback for an automated cleaning system is between containing anti-fog additives. six months and two years,’ Yjord says.The packaging utilizes Planet Ethic’s PLA flm. ‘This has Silvano Tamai presented Tesa’s technology for mounting plates, characteristics similar to polyethylene and polypropylene,’ focusing on the Twinlock compressible self-adhesive sleeve onto says Radice. ‘It is transparent and with excellent resistant which fexo plates can be directly mounted. ‘This allows converters characteristics. It can be printed with OK Compost certifed inks to eliminate the use of double-sided tape, which leads to a in four colors with excellent results not inferior to the printing of reduction in waste and transport emissions, improving your overall oil-derived flm.’ carbon footprint,’ says Tamai.Radice says the flm degrades in about 70 days in an industrial composting center, where it is transformed into fertilizer. ‘Waste X7 demoquickly becomes a useful and natural resource. Furthermore, PLA is At Omet’s headquarters, guests saw a printing demo on the XFlex produced with natural and renewable raw materials and not from X7, optimized for fexible packaging and shrink sleeve labels. The petroleum.’ XFlex X7 combines the best features of both the XFlex X6.0 and Radice stressed the difference between biodegradable and Varyfex V2. It is a 670mm (26in)-wide mid-web press designed for compostable flm. Biodegradable flms are degraded by biological printing unsupported flm down to 9 microns.agents and break down into simple substances – water, methane The XFlex X7 incorporates motorized printing pressure and carbon dioxide – and there is no clear guideline for how long adjustment on anilox and impression cylinders, Multivision cameras this process will take. for automated register control on each printing unit with on-the-fy ‘The composting process uses aerobic biodegradation,’ he says. pre-register. The press was shown printing a high-quality shrink ‘A mature compost looks like loam and contains the nutrients sleeve label, 8 colors UV fexo plus cold foil application, with two useful for agriculture.’ extended dryers for soft touch matte varnish application and Tony Parsons of Nazdar brought delegates’ attention to UV-LED an embossed varnish. The press can also be confgured with a inks for packaging, with some guidance on the use of inks for 670mm-wide rotary screen unit and high-value rotogravure unit, food-contact packaging. which is capable of both surface and reverse printing and equipped Daniel Yjord of Flexowash spoke about the importance of with an integrated chill drum. automated plate and anilox cleaning with a live demonstration of This demonstration job required holding stable print register at the Flexowash machines installed at the Innovation Park. high speeds, demonstrating the effectiveness of Omet’s Zero Gears Yjord stresses that thorough cleaning of anilox rolls, particularly system, which combines direct drive with anti-bounce technology. on high count jobs, is key to print quality and color consistency. ‘Our customers have seen this leads to a decrease in setup time Omet will demonstrate its KFlex fexo press platform and and a reduction in print stops, as well as the elimination of cleaning XJet hybrid technology at Labelexpo Europe 2023. For more solvents, and means operators can focus on running the press,’ he information, visit www.labelexpo-europe.comJul - Sep 2023