Prepress
Coating Excellence Brings Flexo Platemaking In-House, Uses KODAK Solutions to Capture Industry Awards
Friday 27. June 2008 - Coating Excellence International (CEI) is a specialized flexible packaging company in Wrightstown, Wis., that produces high quality flexible packaging products for a wide variety of markets, including ream wrap, food packaging, woven bags, industrial and release markets.
CEI works with a wide range of substrates, providing the ability to convert paper, foil, films and nonwovens.
Founded in 1997 by a group of experienced and inspired individuals who saw a need for a flexible packaging firm dedicated to providing superior service, quality and innovation to the industry, CEI moved into printing in 1999 and installed a new eight color, world class flexographic press. Initially, the company used an outside vendor for plate production, but after careful consideration, invested in a complete, integrated suite of KODAK Solutions and has been producing plates in-house since late 2005 for its full range of presses.
“By bringing prepress in-house, were able to support the growth that were realizing,” said Louann Mueller, Vice President of Manufacturing, CEI. “We feel we are large enough that we need to be able to control, both from a cost and quality standpoint, the prepress and plates that we are putting out to our presses.”
For the second year in a row, CEI has captured several prestigious awards from the Flexographic Technical Association (FTA) in its annual Excellence in Flexography Awards competition. After three gold medals and a Best of Show Award in 2007, CEI followed up in 2008 with a gold, two silvers, a bronze, and another Best of Show Award, this time for the Malta Cleyton Triple Corona New Generation NG woven bag.
Using the KODAK PRINERGY Workflow System for Packaging, KODAK THERMOFLEX Wide Platesetter, KODAK APPROVAL NX Digital Halftone Proofing System, KODAK HYPERFLEX Resolution Enhancement Software, KODAK MAXTONE Hybrid Screening and KODAK DIGICAP Screening, CEI has built its award winning prepress department and discovered significant advantages in cost, quality and turnaround time.
“Our costs have been significantly reduced,” noted Mueller. “At the same time, weve experienced a 75 percent improvement in uptime for our presses, specifically when were on press and have a plate that needs to be replaced.”
The adoption of KODAK Solutions for in-house platemaking has enabled CEI to not only capture new business and establish a reputation for quality, but also stand out among the competition as an award winning, market leading flexo services provider.
KODAK Products are backed by KODAK Service and Support. KODAK Service and Support is made up of more than 3,000 professionals reaching more than 120 countries. It is a leading multi-vendor integrated services provider, delivering consulting, installation, maintenance and support services for the commercial printing, graphic communications, document imaging and data storage industries. KODAK Service and Support professionals are uniquely qualified to provide services that control costs, maximize productivity, and minimize business risk.