Flint Group Launches VANTAGE UV LED Lamp Solution for Sheetfed Printers

LUXEMBOURG — August 4, 2016 — Flint Group has always been at the forefront of the development of UV LED compatible ink technology, and now by launching VANTAGE LED, it commits even further to the wide-scale introduction of this technology.

The full suite of products and services included in VANTAGE LED consists of pre-conversion consulting and training, dedicated LED inks and coatings, matching pressroom chemicals and blankets, plus full customer support during and after conversion. At the heart of the system are EcoLUX LED lamps supplied by Air Motion Systems, the top provider of LED UV technology to the sheetfed offset industry.

VANTAGE LED offers reassurance to users of legacy UV methods, and is particularly beneficial for those printers who have had no exposure to UV curing methods but are keen to take advantage of the considerable benefits of LED. Flint Group’s technical team will walk each individual customer through the process, step-by-step, to ensure the full potential of UV LED technology is realized in every case.

UV LED curing is taking off with sheetfed commercial printers who want to offer faster turnarounds and expand the range of substrates they can print on, as well as existing UV curing printers looking to reduce their energy consumption and remove heat and ozone from their process.

UV LED for sheetfed printers offers many benefits including:

• The printed sheets are dry immediately
• Spray powder is eliminated
• In many cases oil-based or water-based overprint varnishes and coatings used for protection are no longer needed, resulting in material and energy cost savings.

Jim Buchanan, global UV business development director for Flint Group Packaging & Narrow Web, comments, "LED curing technology will change sheetfed offset printing forever; there is no doubt. VANTAGE LED has been developed to ensure those wishing to convert to LED curing can do so with confidence in a very short space of time."

He continues, "Our expert print technicians will audit an operation in the first instance and a full cost-benefit analysis will follow; a press can be converted in as little as one day. We have seen a staggering increase in factory-fitted LED presses, but the process of converting existing presses to LED, with retro-fitted lamp systems, allows printers a fast track to the benefits this technology brings."

About Flint Group
Flint Group is dedicated to serving the global printing and packaging industry. The company develops, manufactures and markets an extensive portfolio of printing consumables and printing equipment, including: a vast range of conventional and energy curable inks and coatings for most offset, flexographic and gravure applications; pressroom chemicals, printing blankets and sleeves for offset printing; photopolymer printing plates and sleeves, plate-making equipment and flexographic sleeve systems; pigments and additives for use in inks and other colorant applications.

Flint Group also designs, develops and delivers webfed digital color presses for labels and packaging applications, document printing, as well as commercial printing as well as platemaking equipment for the newspaper industry and computer-to-plate (CtP) solutions for the commercial printing market. With a strong customer focus, unmatched service and support, and superior products, Flint Group strives to provide exceptional value, consistent quality and continuous innovation to customers around the world. Headquartered in Luxembourg, Flint Group employs some 7,900 people. Revenues for 2015 were € 2.2 billion. On a worldwide basis, the company is the number one or number two supplier in every major market segment it serves.

Source: Flint Group.