Kirchheim near Munich/Germany, February 4, 2019 – How can printing inks provide cost savings through more effective ink application and how does a printing ink manufacturer live up to its responsibility towards people and nature? At this year's Proflex, which takes place from 6 to 7 March 2019 at the Stuttgart Media University (Hochschule der Medien Stuttgart), the hubergroup will be providing a wide range of interesting insights and suggested solutions to these and other questions. As in previous years, the expert for printing inks in flexible packaging printing will have a stand at the popular flexo event.

"At Proflex, we will be presenting products that offer solutions to process-related printing difficulties, open up new possibilities in packaging design and support the environmentally friendly printing of packaging", says Frank Thomas Trinkaus, Sales Manager Flexible Packaging of the hubergroup. He is also the local contact for questions about the benefits and the range of applications of the Gecko ink series on show. These include: Gecko Green Line Premium, the hubergroup's first solvent ink series certified according to the Cradle to Cradle environmental concept. The polyurethane-based Gecko Platinum ink series for lamination flexographic printing, which is suitable for demanding applications such as sterilisation. The hubergroup is also demonstrating the next generation of haptic coatings. Proflex visitors can see for themselves the authentic feel of surface properties such as leather, sand, textile, velvet or wood on the print samples on display.

Sustainable with Cradle to Cradle

The hubergroup was the first ink manufacturer to receive Cradle to Cradle certification in conventional offset in mid-2017. Recently, the hubergroup's Gecko Green Line Premium ink series was awarded the "Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Material Health Assessment Silver-Level" rating. Motivated by the customer Töpfer Kulmbach and the "TogetherTowardsZero" project by Carlsberg, hubergroup had further developed its solvent-based product range to meet the high requirements of the "Material Health Assessment". The ink series for flexographic and gravure printing of flexible packaging applications underlines the ink manufacturer's commitment to anchoring sustainability as an integral part of product development at the hubergroup. The great interest shown by customers in the now certified solvent-based printing inks shows that the efforts are bearing fruit and meeting market requirements.

New development Gecko Platinum

Gecko Platinum is a new group of solvent-based printing inks specially developed for complex lamination applications. The polyurethane-based universal printing ink series delivers outstanding printing results in both flexo and gravure printing. It is a new development to replace existing PVC-based ink series that were suitable for sterilization. Conventional NC/PU systems cannot do this, but have disadvantages in temperature stability compared to PVC and PVB systems. The new, purely PU-based Gecko Platinum ink system closes this gap and now combines both positive properties in one ink: It can be printed very well even at high resolutions for high-quality applications in fine screen printing or in the field of steam sterilization. The printing ink offers this enormous potential while being easy to use. In addition, cost savings can be achieved by more efficient transfer of the highly pigmented printing inks and by taking into account ink density and print optimization in printing practice.

New design ideas with haptic coatings

Haptic product design can support marketing messages, evoke an authentic feeling and create comfort. In a pilot project, the printing ink manufacturer hubergroup has developed five new types of haptic coatings for flexographic and gravure printing that help packaging to appear unique. This next generation of haptic coatings feels like leather, sand, textile, velvet or wood. The samples shown at Proflex prove that the new haptic coatings meet many different requirements: In addition to the storage stability of the coating, the haptic effect should work equally well on a wide variety of substrates; after all, the market is demanding that price and performance be relevant. It goes without saying that the coating must comply with food law requirements.

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About hubergroup:

The hubergroup is one of the world's leading specialists for printing inks, coatings and printing auxiliaries, with currently 40 companies and 130 locations. The successful family-owned company has more than 250 years of experience in the printing ink industry and, with its claim to quality leadership, manufactures products for packaging printing, newspaper printing and commercial printing. In 2017, the group with its more than 3500 employees achieved an annual turnover of approx. 825 million euros. Further information about the company can be found on the website www.hubergroup.com.