Category: Digital

Flexo Paves the Way for Digital Package Printing
In today’s fast-changing, on-demand marketplace, the economic benefits and flexibility of digital printing technology cannot (and should not) be disputed. These presses are “on their feet” with minimal set-up required, empowering them to produce short runs and customized work with fast turnaround times. The computerized process delivers perfectly aligned images with crisp edges and no color overlapping. Traditional flexo technology, on the other hand, is fast, cost-effective for large runs, versatile with regard to substrate options, and offers numerous choices for decoration. While each printing method has its strengths, the possibilities increase exponentially when the two are used together.

Flexo printing

In a mechanical process like flexo printing, an anilox roll, metered by a doctor blade, delivers ink to the substrate by way of a printing plate. How the anilox roll and doctor blade interact has a large impact on the quality of the finished print. Factors such as anilox cell configuration, doctor blade material and tip, and dyne levels of the components throughout the ink delivery system play key roles.

Digital printing

Digital printing presses deliver an electronic image directly to the media using either inkjet or electrophotographic technology. In digital inkjet presses, the ink is delivered through a print head and jetted onto the substrate in an on-demand or continuous basis. The inks are engineered with lo w viscosity formulations, to prevent clogging of the print head nozzles, and specific adhesion properties to control dot spread and image quality.

Electrophotography, or laser printing, technology uses electrostatic energy to apply charged wet (HP Indigo) or dry (Xeikon) toner particles to the substrate. Electrical charges attract or repel the particles from the areas to be printed. The particles are then permanently adhered or “fused” using heat, pressure, light or a combination.

Applying digital printing technology to packaging

As the demand for customization and shorter runs crosses into the flexo packaging industry, there are obvious benefits to adopting digital printing. But there are disparities that have to be overcome. The two printing processes require different ink characteristics in order to execute a clean replication of the image in print, for example. Also, consumer packaging substrates have to meet requirements such as strength, barrier and resistance while holding up to print, finishing and conversion.

Digital inks and toners are not always compatible with packaging substrates such as labels, plastic film, folding carton and corrugated board. The heat used to fix dry toner to the substrate can dehydrate the media. When it comes to wet toner, ink wetting, or how the toner droplets interact with the surface of the substrate, has to be precise. If wetting is too low, the ink droplets spread too little, and the printed image contains gaps that appear as lines or bands in the image. If wetting is too high, the droplets merge with one another and the image loses edge definition. When applied to a substrate such as paper or board, the ink or toner can penetrate the material, leaving less on the surface and reducing color strength. With non-porous substrates, such as plastic and metallic films, the ink or toner tends to sit on top and not adhere properly to the material. This printed surface is left vulnerable to rubbing and scratching.

Primers, varnishes and special effects coatings

Digital converters can use flexo technology to apply layers of coating to bridge the gap between packaging substrates and digital inks or add embellishment.

Primers

To prepare materials – both paper and plastics – for digital printing, a “priming layer” is applied to the surface of the substrate to improve its adhesion properties and make it more receptive to ink or toner. Primers fix surface tension to improve adhesion and hold-out, reduce bleed and mottle, and provide a foundation for specialty coatings. Primed surfaces can support higher-quality graphics with sharper images and more vibrant colors. A coating of primer also seals the substrate for a consistent, finished look and enables faster drying.

Priming solutions are formulated based on the properties of both the substrate and the ink and can be applied inline, offline or by the supplier before the stock arrives in the pressroom. Equipment producers and consumables suppliers are working together to simplify this process. Some press manufacturers, such as HP, are providing inline priming units to optimize the performance of their equipment. Ink companies are engineering formulas for specific use with primers, and materials producers are innovating substrates suited to digital printing.

Varnishes (protective coatings)

We know that digital printing technology is capable of transferring a high-quality image and that substrates can be treated to “accept” the image flawlessly. However, digital inks are not as resistant as flexo inks, and digitally-printed surfaces are vulnerable to dirt, smudges, fingerprints, rubbing, scratching, scuff, moisture, heat and other damage from their environment.

A transparent layer of coating can be applied post-print to “seal” the image and protect it during transporting, storing and handling. Also known as overprint varnishes (OPVs), protective coatings are essentially transparent layers of solutions consisting of durable resins, anti-scuff agents and other additives applied in-line or offline. Flood coating is applied to the full sheet to protect the surface from damage, add a creative dimension or create a desired look or finish. Spot coatings can be used to bring shine and depth to certain areas of the design. Protective coatings can also help maintain the integrity of substrates – such as to prevent curling – and are best applied on top of primed stocks whose surfaces support the top-coat and prevent absorption.

Special effects coatings

In recent years, consumer packaging has taken on the role of marketing in addition to containing, protecting and describing what’s inside. Manufacturers look for ways to differentiate their brands and improve the shelf-appeal of their products over competitors’. A large variety of special effect coatings can be used to add tactical, visual or olfactory dimensions to packaging and improve sales:

Glitter Iridescent Crackle

Soft-touch Gloss Scratch-off

Pearlescent Matte Grit

Sand Frost Scent

Metallic Glow-in-the-dark Satin

Texture Thermochromic Dull

Coating formulas

Aqueous – or water-based – coatings are the most common, economical and eco-friendly option. They are available in gloss or matte finishes and can only be used in flood applications. Aqueous coatings can be applied in-line and are dried using hot air and infrared dryers. Aqueous coatings provide good abrasion and rub resistance, prevent yellowing and protect metallic inks from tarnishing. They are generally safer to utilize with safer clean-up as well and more easily recycled in municipal waste systems.

UV coatings, a more expensive option, can also be applied in-line and offer additional protection and dramatic decorative appeal. They are cured through exposure to ultraviolet light and typically contain components to limit yellowing, cracking, scuffing and peeling over time. UV coatings are available in gloss, matte or tinted finishes and can be used to cover the entire sheet or to highlight certain areas of the design (known as spot coating).

Selecting a coating formula

When selecting a coating formula, there are several factors that should be considered according to Kurt Hudson, an independent consultant to the printing industry and founder of Solutions Logic. “More times than not, the question is – ‘What is the object to be coated, in what environment will it need to be used, what are the specific requirements for the printed product to be effective in the end use environment, and what is the cheapest way to get there?’” Generally, Hudson believes the packaging use should drive the decision: “If one is producing for direct contact food packaging, then aqueous is the only choice. If one needs exterior durability, then UV is the only choice.” Beyond that, he suggests using cost as a guideline: “One uses UV coatings when aqueous products can no longer provide the required benefits,” said Hudson. He believes that look or feel is rarely the deciding factor as good mattes, textures and gloss can be achieved with aqueous and UV (with the exception of 3D tactile which requires a UV formula). He acknowledges that sometimes, but not often, productivity, ease of use and residual odor are considerations.

Coating application

The application of primer, protective coatings and special effects coatings is done via a flexo process which uses an anilox roll and doctor blade. The application of these formulas can be challenging and using the right doctor blade will have a big impact on quality and efficiency.

Primers and special effects coating formulas tend to have high viscosities – up to 5-7 times that of water and solvent-based ink formulas – or contain large particulates which can make it difficult for the printer to accurately control the amount being applied. The mass of the highly-viscous coating applies extra pressure to a steel metering blade as the anilox roll turns, especially at high press speeds. The result is hydroplaning or “spitting,” which wastes materials and requires downtime for clean-up. A customized blade product with sufficient stiffness and abrasion-resistance is recommended to control the lay-down of coating and prevent spitting.

TruPoint Orange® doctor blade with MicroTip®

The harsh chemical compositions of the viscous and abrasive coating formulas described above, along with the coarse anilox surfaces required to deliver them, quickly wear out steel doctor blades. In these applications, a blade constructed from a durable material that can stand up to the rigorous coating properties is necessary. By engineering a modified lamella tip, known as a “MicroTip”, on an advanced polymer material, Flexo Concepts has created an innovative plastic blade solution – TruPoint Orange – that has proven valuable in the application of priming and coating. The blade is compatible with all coating formulas, safe for anilox rolls and press operators, and does what plastic blades are known to do best: last longer.

TruPoint Orange blades can be engineered to a full range of size and profile combinations to optimize metering performance with higher viscosity and large particulate formulas. They range in thickness from .027”/.7mm to .050”/1.25mm to offer varying degrees of stiffness, rigidity and deflection. These properties combined with the innovative MicroTip edge allow the blades to achieve a fine contact area with the anilox roll and deliver a fluid transfer of coating to the plate with no spitting or slinging – even at high press speeds. With a range of MicroTip options (M10, M15 and M25), the blades can be customized for a “perfect fit.”

Doctor blade optimization

The choice of blade thickness and tip will be determined by the anilox configuration, which is driven by the viscosity and solid load of the coating. Typically, higher line screens and lower cell volumes will require a smaller MicroTip (an M10 or M15 for dull/satin/gloss coatings for example). But, as line screens decline and volumes increase, a MicroTip providing a larger contact area (M15 or M25) will perform better. By selecting the appropriate MicroTip for a particular application, printers are able to achieve longer blade life than with steel blades.

OEMs supporting TruPoint Orange

A number of digital finishing and hybrid press producers have found that their press productivity and output quality are optimized when using a TruPoint Orange doctor blade:

A B Graphic International

AzTech Converting Systems

Bar Graphic Machinery

Cartes Srl

Focus Label Machinery

Gonderflex International

Grafisk Maskinfabrik

Mark Andy

REFINE Finishing

Wenzhou Ryguan Machinery

Many of these manufacturers have chosen Orange to demonstrate the effectiveness of their equipment at Labelexpo shows worldwide, and a number are shipping their equipment standard with the blade.

Summary

As the package printing sector continues to embrace customization and personalization, combining the power of flexo and the versatility of digital will deliver strong competitive advantage to the converter. The use of primers, varnishes and special effects coatings aligns the two processes, bringing efficiencies and almost unlimited design possibilities to the pressroom. Industry suppliers have rallied to support this evolution; manufacturers have introduced new innovations ranging from hybrid presses, new substrates, state-of-the-art coating formulas and an advanced polymer doctor blade called TruPoint Orange with MicroTip edge technology.
How Flexo Concepts® Was Digitally Transformed

Flexo Concepts has completely transformed the way it does business.

Digitally, that is.

It began the way all of our projects do, with a vision – to create a digital cohesiveness throughout our company to optimize our customers’ experience with us – and a plan to make that vision a reality. Together, they led us down a 4-year path of pervasive digital transformation that reached into every corner of our company and united all of our business functions.

“A company’s digital transformation may not be very noticeable from the outside,” said Greg Howell, Flexo Concepts’ president and de facto project leader. “If done correctly, customers won’t notice initially. But over time they will see increasing examples of improved experiences as they engage with suppliers who are transforming.”

A successful digital transformation requires hard work that needs to be done inside the organization, necessitating a sustained, company-wide focus on a long-term goal and plenty of patience along the way. A key player in the company’s transition was Flexo Concepts’ Supply and Customer Experience Manager, Phil Ryan. Together, Greg and Phil piloted a process to attack this initiative over a period of 4 years, leading to countless examples of technology being used in game-changing ways.

From the start, Greg realized the importance of drawing ideas and buy-in from all areas of the company – not just IT or Sales where the initiative started, but also Accounting, Engineering, Operations, Marketing, Manufacturing and Customer Experience. This was important not only to generate the best ideas, but also to ensure that knowledge and capability were distributed throughout the company and not centered around a few people. He was sure that everyone in the organization – from top to bottom and across – needed to work together for this to succeed. And so, our “Digital Transformation Team,” with representatives from each department, was born.

Since the beginning, the team would gather every other week to communicate progress, celebrate “wins”, vet ideas, and plan next steps. Tasks were decided upon, and members would return to their departments after each meeting with tactical to-do lists. Gradually, the assignments were moved from “to-do” status to “completed” and crossed off the list.

Over time, wonderful things began to happen in different parts of the organization. Tighter control over billing and collections, better cost tracking, easier multiple currency billing and simplified sales tax management were achieved in the accounting department, for example. Our engineers started using “cases,” or CRM system tickets, to manage the process of blade analysis. Manufacturing personnel came to enjoy the ease of using an on-platform shipping tool that allowed direct creation of shipments from a sales order within a single application. SOP’s and master batch records created clear, accessible guidelines for daily operation in a digital format. New inventory management automation and a centralized procurement system ensured access to accurate, up-to-the-minute levels of available product, improved cost allocation and better raw material tracking. The customer experience team began using surveys to gauge the company’s performance at not only meeting customers’ current needs, but also to get a sense of new services people would like to see from us.

Internal and external quality issue tracking through digital cases enable us to recognize issues early, investigate them, and resolve problems as quickly as possible. Internal costs savings were realized, too, when the operations department declared “paperless status” in September 2019, eliminating over 87,000 pieces of paper and about $10,000 in related expenses annually! An order is now received, processed, manufactured, packed, shipped and invoiced using only a single piece of paper – the packing slip.

The sales and marketing teams were also rewarded with automated processes to pinpoint customers’ pain points and offer customized solutions. The integration and optimization of software systems provide quick and easy account “snapshot” analysis and tracking via personalized dashboards, providing our salespeople with all the information they need at their (keyboard-operating) fingertips. Our marketing staff has gained tools to determine the information prospective customers are looking for and deliver it to them not only when they want it, but how. A central repository offers the entire international team access to all online marketing collateral, and a Kanban process enables them to request sales support materials digitally.

Today, we are proud to report that 100% of our business processes are in the cloud (except for a few processor-intensive applications and some local file storage). Our entire office staff company-wide has access to all job functionality via the web, facilitating remote operation on laptops, iPads, mobile phones and other devices. As a result, we now have maximum flexibility to maintain uninterrupted service to our customers despite unforeseen events that may impact our ability to operate from a central location.

Greg sees our company’s digital transformation as a logical extension of our continuous improvement mindset and believes that you can’t really do one without the other. “Our culture has always placed an emphasis on finding ways to work smarter and leverage technology to do it. Much like continuous improvement, meaningful digital transformation is an accumulation of very small improvements done over time that come together to create large, efficient and more capable systems.”

It began with the belief that if we could create a digital record of all our customer interactions, we could attain operational bliss and deliver amazing experiences for our customers. And we did. For now. Because, almost by definition, digital transformation is a never-ending process with infinite room for improvement. As our ways of conducting business keep evolving, our technology capabilities grow, and our customer focus remains steadfast, there’s no doubt we will continue to “transform.”
Flexo Concepts Joins Local “Scallop Roll”

Flexo Concepts recently joined 29 other area businesses participating in the latest Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce street-side art project – “The Scallop Roll.” Part of a celebration to commemorate our country’s upcoming 400-year anniversary, the project features a collection of large, fiberglass scallop-shaped forms about 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide. Company sponsors worked with local artists to come up with design concepts and paint the structures – front and back. The shells have been installed at various locations around the downtown and waterfront areas for residents and visitors to admire, and maps are available to help people make a fun activity out of finding them as they explore the town.

According to the Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce, “The scallop was selected for this year’s campaign because of its symbolism for pilgrimage. Artwork of the shell can even be found on local headstones dating back as early as 1681.”

For its design, Flexo Concepts chose a nautical theme radiating a message of acceptance and equality. The front of the shell depicts a seaside display with a rainbow-colored lighthouse at its center. The back features a quote by John Lennon, “It matters not who you love, where you love, why you love or how you love; it matters only that you love.”

Anyone visiting the area is encouraged to visit the Plymouth, Massachusetts downtown waterfront to see the shells.
Flexo Concepts®: Distinguished Exporter of TruPoint® Doctor Blades

If a time period in a company’s history can be characterized by a single phrase, 2018 could be called the “year of the export” for Flexo Concepts.

On the verge of wrapping up its 3^rd decade of selling overseas, doing business globally is nothing new for our doctor blade manufacturing company. But 2018 has been a year to celebrate. Flexo Concepts received two high profile export awards, won its fifth export grant, and is about to onboard its third international business development manager.

First, Flexo Concepts was named, “2018 Exporter of the Year” for Massachusetts by the U.S. Small Business Administration in April. The very next month, Flexo Concepts was recognized at the national level, receiving the President’s E Award – considered the highest recognition any U.S. entity can receive for making what Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross calls “a significant contribution to the expansion of exports.”

In November, Flexo Concepts received notification that it was awarded funding for the fifth time through the Massachusetts State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) to facilitate long-term export growth. When allocating the grant, the Massachusetts Export Center chooses companies based on their demonstrated commitment to boost exports, create jobs and impact the economy.

And now, the company is adding to its team of overseas sales representatives fully dedicated to international business development and service.

Flexo Concepts understands the importance of having salespeople in the field who understand the regional markets, speak the native languages and are intimately familiar with local cultures and business practices. Soon Arnoud de Jong will join Bernat Ferrete (based in Spain) and Steve Kao (based in Taiwan) in promoting the TruPoint line of doctor blades globally. Arnoud will be based in his home country, the Netherlands, and brings a wide range of strategic capabilities to his new role – a good sense for the European flexo industry, strong marketing background and proficient language skills in his native Dutch, English and German.

The activities of the international business development managers are fortified by support from back home – Flexo Concepts’ headquarters in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The company actively participates in foreign trade associations and regularly exhibits at key trade events around the world. To localize its selling, the company’s marketing department provides translated versions of its sales tools and promotional materials – brochures, installation guides, email campaigns, blogs, white papers, infographics, ads, training documents, etc. – and recently launched Spanish and Chinese versions of its website (with French and German to follow in 2019).

Behind the scenes, developing and executing a successful international business model is a whole-company team effort. From navigating the intricacies of international accounting, to mastering the complexities of shipping and logistics and maintaining compliance with foreign regulations, every department is involved.

But, while “internationalizing” the business has been (and will continue to be) one of our biggest challenges, it will surely also remain one of our biggest rewards. Exports have grown from 17% of revenues in 1991 to over 40% today. We maintain OEM relationships and distribution on every (habitable) continent, and our current customer base spans 50+ countries worldwide. The recognition we have received in 2018 celebrates our efforts over the past 30 years to advance the global flexo printing industry.

And we’re pretty darn proud of it.
Manufacturing Manager Adam Yock Talks about Plant Safety at Flexo Concepts

One of Flexo Concepts’ most important cultural values relates to its people and keeping them safe is one of its highest priorities. For this reason, the company has established a “Safety Team” and protocols throughout the building to create and maintain a safe environment for its employees.

Today we will talk with Manufacturing Manager Adam Yock to learn more about what Flexo Concepts does to keep workers safe.

Adam, can you tell us about the Safety Team and their responsibilities?

The Safety Team consists of five members from the production staff who meet on a regular basis to review the overall safety of the premises and address any areas of concern. As the manufacturing manager, I perform random safety audits to identify risks and make suggestion tickets available for employees to communicate any safety concerns they may have. The tickets are posted on a master board in the shop, tracked through our CRM system and attended to by the Safety Team. Safety tickets receive immediate attention and take priority over ideas for needed repairs or continuous improvement posted on the board.

What are some of the safety measures you have in place in the manufacturing area?

On the manufacturing floor, there is a wide variety of safety equipment available to protect workers from injuries. All our machines are guarded at the cutters to keep operators from being hurt and prevent loose pieces of blade scrap from flying into the air. Ear plugs or muffs are worn by employees running the blade cutting equipment to protect from the loud machine noise. There are anti-slip mats throughout the shop and anti-fatigue mats in all blade fabrication areas. Bench heights are kept at a comfortable height that allows the operators to work without being hunched over, and windows have been installed in doors entering/exiting the shop to prevent someone from being hit by a door being opened from the opposite side.

The company purchased flow racks for the storage of raw material to reduce the need for workers to bend when picking material, and an automated conveyor system makes it easy to move heavy boxes from the production lines to the shipping area. Flexo Concepts also installed a Dura-Vac central trim collection system to gather and dispose of manufacturing waste, eliminating the need to physically remove blade scrap from the workstations.

We also use 5S practices which not only drive efficiency but also a continuously tidy and safer shop environment. The company has structured, documented procedures and shop floor workforce training programs in place to ensure that blade fabrication, order fulfillment and scrap removal are done properly and safely. All manufacturing employees are formally trained and certified in the proper use of forklift equipment.

How do you communicate safety procedures with your employees?

Safety procedures are communicated through monthly team meetings, quarterly company meetings, building-wide notices and training events. Evacuation procedures and instructions specific to each department are posted throughout the facility. Also, the Safety Team sends out safety tip sheets to all employees before each major holiday to help protect them and their families from accidents at home.

Do guidelines change and evolve over time, and if so, how?

Flexo Concepts takes pride in being proactive when it comes to safety. Our company stays in compliance with Osha guidelines and has outsourced the management of some of our safety initiatives to vendors. Through contracts with providers such as CINTAS and Yankee Sprinkler, our equipment specifications and instructions are continuously monitored and kept up to date. For example, Cintas has installed a first aid station in our shop, including AED technology with on-site monthly service to maintain the device. Yankee Sprinkler is under an annual contract with Flexo Concepts to maintain our fire protection system. Both companies provide regular training for our staff on the proper use of this equipment.

How successful has your company been with plant safety?

Flexo Concepts continues to be very successful with its safety protocol as indicated by our low injury rates and minimal lost-time accidents. Since establishing a Safety Team dedicated to this important aspect of our business, the number of accidents that occur in our building has been reduced to almost zero. We are proud of our great track record and feel confident that the safety systems and procedures we have in place will keep it that way!

To learn about how using plastic doctor blades can improve safety and reduce costs in your pressroom:

[Read our white paper, “The [Hidden] Costs of Using Steel Doctor Blades”]
The Spectrum of Culture: From Employee to Customer
The Cultural Spectrum

As printers, or as suppliers to printers, we obsess in the pursuit of perfection– perhaps in no area with so much focus as on the spectrum of color. The perfect color match, the lowest Delta E, correct ink density and a flawless alignment of parts and plates from station to station. All to deliver the exact hues our customers demand. But there is a different spectrum that is perhaps even more difficult to master, and for which alignment is even more critical: the Cultural Spectrum.

People, and the culture they share, are the true core of our businesses. The owners and leaders of the organization who direct our businesses; the employees designing our packaging, running our presses; the vendors and partners supplying us with the tools we need to get the job done; our audience, the manufacturers buying our packaging—these people are all part of a complex cultural spectrum. Each group has its own standards and expectations, its own motivations, and its own collective personality.

Most people, when asked about their company’s culture, are unlikely to think in terms of this entire spectrum and may miss the opportunity to drive greater success. Seeking to create a culture that recognizes and fosters alignment across all of these interdependent work groups is a challenging path, but one with great rewards. We’d like to share with you the story of how our team identified the elements of its own spectrum, as well as the steps we took to pursue alignment across the spectrum.

Our Culture Journey

Rachel Acevedo and Phil Ryan of Flexo Concepts speak on The Spectrum of Culture at the 2018 FTA Forum.

In 2015, our company, Flexo Concepts, felt a need to work on and improve our culture. But what does that even mean? To us, we wanted to improve employee retention and satisfaction, but really had no idea how to get started. To help us, we engaged a cultural consultant and embarked on a journey so much bigger than just building employee morale. It started with one of those intensive 360° reviews typically done of individuals by persons from every part of their work sphere. For us though, it was a 360° review of our entire business. Customers of all sizes were interviewed to learn the market’s perception of our business. We also went about privately interviewing every single one of our employees—the owners, the guys running our equipment, our accounting team, engineers, customer support—everyone!

The result of this process was not just the most complete view of our business we have ever had. We understood our customers better. We learned firsthand about their perception of our brand, our strengths and our weaknesses and then used a simple Venn diagram to map our capabilities and also those of our competition against the wants and needs of our customers. The areas where our business uniquely supported the customer expectations were defined as our “Points of Distinction” [PODs]. We worked with this information to create a new focus and strategy for the business. For example, one of our PODs is centered around innovation. To grow this strength, we constructed an R&D lab specifically to support application testing and the development of new polymers.

While the PODs gave us a tactical roadmap, we had more work to do to understand and develop our culture. The cultural consultants had helped us to collect and compile information, but for the next 6 months we worked on our own to further grow the concepts. This process was done by way of a biweekly meeting held with the entire management staff. All departments worked together, taking a ground-up approach to write our Vision, Mission and Promise statements. It’s an exercise many organizations go through, but one we took a fanatical approach toward. We had a rule in these meetings that no one was ever to leave in silent disagreement. To say one thing during the meeting, but to act out of synch in the day-to-day would completely undermine the process and would not foster alignment.

People, Trust, Accountability and Performance

Another product of these meetings was a clear definition of our values, organized around four pillars—People, Trust, Accountability and Performance. These values closed the loop of a sort of “corporate operating system,” which we were ready to roll out not just to our organization, but to the rest of the spectrum as well. The efforts to understand and align ourselves to our audience were a good start, but we felt a more holistic approach would be more effective. To achieve this, we did more than work with our own staff; we reached out to our key vendors as well and educated them on our corporate values. We met with them to find common ground in our values and to get them to understand not just our needs, but the needs of our customers. We felt our own transformation would do little good without the support of our partners. Some suppliers got weeded out in the process, but our supply chain is as strong now as it has ever been.

With leadership, employees, and our upstream support network now closely aligned, we had to circle back to the final group: the audience. A strong, progressive and uplifting culture is a great asset for an organization, and we wanted to communicate it to our customers—especially because they had been so key in shaping the changes we made. To do this, we boosted our social media presence, opened our business for employee-led tours and started sharing our story: the day-in-day-out ways our culture shapes our business and our interactions with each customer; the journey of continuous improvement that we want our customers to enjoy and benefit from as much as we have.

After a year and a half of work, we found ourselves with the improved culture we had sought, and it extended beyond the sphere of ourselves and our employees. We feel

our culture and values are bigger than ourselves because our Vision and Mission are bigger than ourselves and they require more than what just the people in our building can provide. We recognize that our aspirations require a big-picture perspective, one aligned across the whole spectrum. It is not an impossible task, and though it is one that never ends, it also is one which never stops paying back. We would encourage any team looking to repeat this work for themselves to ask:
- Who is in your Cultural Spectrum?
- Does your Culture value what your Spectrum values?
- Is your Culture aligned through the Spectrum?
If you attempt to honestly and thoughtfully answer these questions, your own cultural reinvention will have already begun!
The World’s Most Innovative Doctor Blade Company

Flexo Concepts® wants to be the world’s most innovative doctor blade company.

How are we going to do it? By creating products, services and a brand experience that inspire.

Products that inspire

We start by crafting superior products and designs.

Our salespeople “have their finger on the pulse” of the industry. They are well-versed in flexography and stay up on market trends. When they report back printers’ needs and challenges, our engineers get right to work.

We partner closely with the world’s most advanced material suppliers and perfect designs in our state-of-the-art doctor blade innovation lab. New blade concepts are subjected to rigorous internal benchmark analysis and then sent out for advanced third-party testing with customers, industry associates, material labs and OEMs before being released to the market. Our premium, solution-based portfolio of innovative products ensures that customers have blades that meet their exact needs. Combinations of materials and tips present a large range of options so that blades can be customized for specific applications.

But we don’t stop there. Our culture of “continuous improvement” compels us to keep moving forward. Whether it’s experimenting with an interesting new material or working tirelessly to perfect the geometry of a new tip, we never rest. The same goes for our manufacturing processes. We regularly invest in new (oftentimes custom) equipment so we can produce our blades swiftly and efficiently while maintaining high standards of quality.

Services that inspire

We make doing business with us easy for our customers so they can focus on their businesses. As trusted advisors, our highly-trained salespeople and customer experience reps help printers find the best solutions, even if it means sometimes recommending a competitor’s product. Wait, what?? It’s true.

Providing support before, during and after each sale is important to us. Our company understands that printers need flexibility from their partners; we pride ourselves on providing quick responses, short lead times, inventory management programs and expedited shipments (even second-day or overnight guaranteed deliveries for those times that receiving blades ASAP is critical!).

A brand experience that inspires

Flexo Concepts wants to be the professor that’s helpful, collaborative and innovative, as well as the uncle who’s friendly, unconventional, guiding and cool. We promise to build meaningful relationships through exceptional experiences. We want our customers to feel comfortable working with us and trust us to have their best interests in mind. Having always been “different” as a niche manufacturer in the industry, we’re comfortable blazing our own trail – trying new things and coming up with unique innovations that set us apart from other doctor blade manufacturers.

Flexo Concepts works hard to consistently deliver products, services and a brand experience that inspire. It’s not just our understanding of the market’s needs, highly-focused R&D efforts, ground-breaking blade technology, sales “consultants” and adaptive support services. It’s also a culture throughout our organization that makes us always try to be better. These are the things that will make us the world’s most innovative doctor blade company.
New Polymer Doctor Blades with MicroTip Are Best for Applying Special Effects Coating

Anyone who uses doctor blades for printing knows the range of options available today. From the thickness of the material to the tip configuration, a doctor blade’s design has a direct impact on the job it will do. While traditional tip options have ranged from straight to rounded to lamella, the new kid on the block, “MicroTip,” offers printers a smart choice when applying special effects coating.

Special effects coatings are challenging

More and more, packaging companies are using specialty coatings to differentiate their brands and create a tactile and visual experience for consumers. However, special coatings such as glitter, grit, soft-touch, metallics and pearlescents present particular challenges for the printer. These coatings have high viscosities and contain larger particles which make it difficult to accurately control the amount of coating

being applied. (UV chemistries, common in specialty coating applications, have a viscosity of 5-7 times that of water and solvent-based formulas.) This higher viscosity applies extra pressure to the metering blade, resulting in hydroplaning or “spitting” (especially at high line speeds), and increases coating consumption and waste. In these cases, a customized blade solution is often necessary to control the lay-down of coating.

New Polymer Doctor Blades with MicroTips can help

Doctor blade manufacturers have found a way to make new polymer doctor blade materials that can overcome the limitations of steel in specialty coating applications. By engineering a modified lamella tip, known as a “MicroTip”, on these materials, they have introduced a doctor blade product that offers the best of traditional plastic and steel.

Why do they work?

When used to apply special effects coating, steel blades are subject to accelerated blade wear from the coarse anilox engravings and corrosion from the harsh coating chemistries. Today’s new polymer materials are compatible with all coating formulas and do what plastic blades are known to do best: last longer.

The blades can be engineered to a full range of size and profile combinations to optimize metering performance with the higher viscosity and large particulate formulas. They range in thickness from .027”/.7mm to .050”/1.25mm to offer varying degrees of stiffness, rigidity and deflection. These properties combined with the new MicroTip edge allow the blades to achieve a fine contact area with the anilox roll and deliver a fluid transfer of coating to the blanket with no spitting or slinging, even at high press speeds. Add to this a range of MicroTips, (M10, M15 and M25) and these blades can be customized for a “perfect fit.”

Doctor blade optimization for special effects coating

The choice of blade thickness and tip will be determined by the anilox configuration, which is driven by the viscosity and solid load of the coating. Typically, higher line screens and lower cell volumes will require a smaller MicroTip (an M10 or M15 for dull/satin/gloss coatings for example), but as line screens decline and volumes increase, a MicroTip providing a larger contact area (M15 or M25) will perform better. By optimizing their next generation polymer doctor blades with the appropriate MicroTip, printers are able to achieve longer blade life in these applications than with steel.

If you’re a printer struggling with special effects coating, consider switching to a next generation polymer doctor blade with a MicroTip. A magical combination of advanced material and tip might be just what you need to achieve a perfect lay-down of coating with longer blade life to boot.

Request a Free TruPoint Doctor Blade Sample