W&H helps Marufuku make its mark

Three years after commissioning his first flexo press, a Soloflex 8L from Windmöller & Hölscher, Fukushima-san, president of Japanese company Marufuku, has surpassed his initial goal. With the successful creation of his own flexo printing division, he has realized his vision of solventless package printing. The result was the purchase of two further W&H flexo presses within two years: first an eight colour Primaflex CS, followed shortly by an eight colour Primaflex CM.

"I firmly believed there was a market potential in Japan for flexo printed flexible packaging on the basis of water soluble inks," he explains. "Because of the high printing speed achieved with the Primaflex CS, we were able to increase our production capacity notably; and since the machine has the same 820mm printing width as the Soloflex, we could also use all of our existing cylinders and gears on the Primaflex CS. As a result, we have not only become faster but also more flexible."

To enter the flexo market, Marufuku not only invested in state-of-the-art printing technology, but also created its own environment and quality seal, which has proved a success in the marketplace. The proprietary seal guarantees that only water based inks are used in the printing of the packaging. Marufuku's product spectrum now encompasses outer packaging for food, film tubes for rice, poultry and other meat products, as well as film for sanitary and hygiene packaging applications.

Following its successful venture into flexo printing of packaging film, the company is now also able to print paper webs on the new Primaflex CM which features a printing width of 1,270mm. The machine is equipped with the Easy-Set automatic impression setting system to reduce set-up times.