Esko CrystalCleanConnect brings great customer benefit already in its first year

     Esko and Asahi Photoproducts have announced that CrystalCleanConnect, the automated flexo platemaking line jointly developed by the two companies, is now available worldwide after a successful first year since its introduction at drupa.

     "We have successfully installed the system at several key customers since we debuted this innovative technology at the 2021 virtual.drupa event," said Pascal Thomas, head of Esko's flexo business area. "We are delighted that our customers have already seen tremendous success, thanks to the benefits and value the system has provided them. Now that the various restrictions and logistical issues of confinement have been relaxed, we are excited to make the solution available to our entire global customer base."

     Esko, a global developer of integrated software and hardware solutions for the packaging and label industries, collaborated with Asahi Photoproducts, a pioneer in the development of photopolymer flexo plates, on the innovative flexo platemaking solution.

     "CrystalCleanConnect fully automates the entire platemaking process, from image generation and exposure to plate production, reducing the number of steps in the flexo platemaking process from 12 to just one," said Pascal. "This means reducing the time it takes the operator to complete all process steps for platemaking and cutting from 36 to as little as 2.5 minutes per plate."

     "CrystalCleanConnect brings together key software and hardware technologies from both companies to provide a number of innovative benefits from design to print," he added. "It provides cleaner and faster operation, which simplifies the flexo platemaking process, improves security and increases consistency in print quality," he specified.

     Nabe Process Co., Ltd. was the first in the world to integrate CrystalCleanConnect into its platemaking shortly after the technology was introduced at drupa. Mr. Nabesaka, general manager of Nabe Process Co. said, "CrystalCleanConnect has increased our overall quality and productivity, getting plates to press much faster, with less operator intervention time and less chance for error."

     Mr. Nabesaka said the solution was used to compare Asahi's AWP™ CleanPrint water washable flexo plates with conventional solvent washable plates and calculate the quality and productivity differences between the two. "Based on the results, we are switching all of our flexo plates to Asahi's AWP™ CleanPrint water washable plates and know that our customers will be even more delighted with the quality we offer," he said.

     It was also recently announced that leading label manufacturer Shanghai Hengze Printing Company is in the process of installing a new CrystalCleanConnect flexo platemaking line. The addition of the solution and switch to Asahi's AWP™-DEW water-washable plates, optimized for use with CrystalCleanConnect, will take the company's productivity, efficiency and sustainability to the next level, positioning it even more favorably in the highly competitive Chinese market.

     "When we learned about the added value CrystalCleanConnect could bring us, we wanted to get started as soon as possible," said Mr. Li Xiaocheng, founder of Hengze. "We are also delighted to be one of the first companies to adopt this unique, innovative and highly productive solution."

     Pascal Thomas explained that, with CrystalCleanConnect, significant operational advantages in his specialty are accompanied by a reduction in ink usage and reduced environmental impact. "By saving so many steps in the process, operator intervention time is immediately reduced by 90%, eliminating the potential for human error and also bringing an instant increase in efficiency," he reported. "With Asahi and Esko technologies working together in complete harmony, quality is guaranteed and the combination of increased quality and efficiency means an average 25% increase in overall press effectiveness."

     Dieter Niederstadt, Technical Marketing Manager at Asahi Photoproducts, said: "Flexography needs to simplify processes and improve quality, consistency and profitability. By doing so, flexography can create new business opportunities and positively transform itself into a printing technology in balance with the environment."

     "This groundbreaking innovation is different from other solutions on the market in many ways," added Dieter. "It is not simply a set of available platemaking processes provided in-line, but rather a holistic approach in connecting technologies, in both directions of the prepress value chain, using an intelligent automation hub as the backbone and heart of the solution. CrystalCleanConnect is really pushing the boundaries of the current scope of plate automation by providing a ready-to-assemble plate and becoming the first automated production solution that does not use VOC-based wash-up solvents in the platemaking process."

For more information, visit www.asahi-photoproducts.com/en/CCC