With facilities near Salerno and Milan in Italy, Mavigrafica has become known for its innovative solutions as a pre-press service provider to the Italian flexo printing sector since it was founded in 1997. In 2008, Mavigrafica identified Kodak as the right technology partner to help it differentiate itself in the flexo plates sector and purchased the first KODAK FLEXCEL NX System in Italy. Today it boasts one Kodak ThermoFlex Wide and three FLEXCEL NX Wide 5080 Systems.
Mavigrafica learnt about Flexcel NX Solutions at drupa in 2008, as Alessia Vitale, pre-press graphic designer and daughter of Maurizio Vitale, the owner of the company explains, “My father was enthusiastic about the capabilities of the Flexcel NX System and decided to introduce the technology to the company. After we familiarised ourselves with the characteristics and exceptional print qualities, we started to offer it commercially. We were still unaware of the complete potential of the product, in fact there was even some scepticism. But customers have completely changed their minds and it has since become our flagship product. No other Italian company in this sector has managed to grow so much in such a short time, which is thanks to the FLEXCEL NX Systems, and, as a result, we’ve built a very strong reputation in the market.
In addition to its Kodak ThermoFlex Wide System and three Kodak Flexcel NX Wide 5080 Systems (1270 x 2032mm plate format), Mavigrafica incorporates other technologies from Miraclon such as Advanced DIGICAP NX Patterning that enables printing on all surfaces with a more uniform ink distribution and high density. Thanks to the surface pattern that is applied to the polymer plate, it enables lower volume of ink usage on an anilox roll but still produce an equally uniform background, sharp text and exceptional shading.
“We also have special screens,” says Alessia, “which allow us to improve highlights even more. All this technology has helped to promote us by increasing both our customer numbers and our turnover each year. Our customers are drawn to Flexcel NX plates as they ensure a shorter start-up time and a greater coverage and distribution of inks, with a consequential decrease in waste and cleaning. Even on long runs, plate cleaning is eliminated. This allows us to efficiently ensure customer satisfaction with high-quality printing. And not only that, but many packaging items that were previously printed offset or gravure have been converted to flexo.”
