During day one of drupa, we met with Sarel Oosthuizen, MD of Sareltech, at the Uteco stand. Uteco announced the creation of the Flex-Converting Alliance (FlexCA) which unites Uteco for printing technologies, CMG and GAP for extrusion, SmartJet for digital printing, Vision for vision systems for process and quality control and BIMEC for slitting technologies. The companies are united through binding equity agreements. ‘It’s the widest band portfolio in the converting industry, covering extrusion, printing, quality control and slitting equipment,’ Sarel explained. Sareltech will now be the distributing agent for CMG in South Africa, specialising in advanced three-, five- and seven-layer coextrusion lines for barrier films.
This follows hard on the heels of a demonstration of Uteco’s OnyxOMNIA FlexoDigital press, which puts much of that alliance into practical integration, combining Uteco’s CI flexo technology with the SmartJet inkjet unit in a system that Uteco IMEA regional manager and MEA director Anan Hiyasat notes for its versatility. The OnyxOMNIA is a multi-versatile FlexoDigital press that can be integrated with multiple downstream units for various finishing purposes, available with both solvent- and water-based inks. It is highly productive, boasting speeds of up to 400m/min (flexo), 150m/min (digital) and 300m/min (FlexoDigital). Its advanced automatic settings make it 33% faster in complete changeovers compared to traditional flexo. The OnyxOMNIA is unique, Anan says, in that the flexo decks are ‘intended to complement the digital inkjet capabilities, instead of the other way around.’ Six flexo units allow for spots, primers and whites, with the last unit being convertible to a rotogravure unit for overprint varnish (OPV). VisionFLEX Matrix and Linear Vision Systems are also built in and accessed through the same HMI as the printing units.
Ed’s note: Uteco and CMG are represented and distributed in South Africa by Sareltech.
