Patrick Hogan11.16.18
Winston Churchill once said, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Fortunately for us in flexography, the industry has learned from mistakes, applied those hard-earned lessons and continued the dynamic changes that keep our printing technology relevant and vibrant today.
While the flexographic printing industry traces its roots back to the 1800s, it has been the constant improvements in technology that have made flexography the vigorous industry it has become over the last 30 years. Developments in press manufacturing, inks, plates, tapes, mounting, graphics and aniloxes all paved the way for the industry we know today. Of course, the heart of the process has been the anilox. The story of the anilox is an amazing testament to both ingenuity and application.
How did anilox rolls come to be? Originally, inks used in the flexographic industry were made from aniline or coal tar derivatives. Early ink delivery systems for flexo were a combination of rubber transfer rolls that had varying amounts of pressure applied to meter the amount of ink transferred to the printing plate.
While the flexographic printing industry traces its roots back to the 1800s, it has been the constant improvements in technology that have made flexography the vigorous industry it has become over the last 30 years. Developments in press manufacturing, inks, plates, tapes, mounting, graphics and aniloxes all paved the way for the industry we know today. Of course, the heart of the process has been the anilox. The story of the anilox is an amazing testament to both ingenuity and application.
How did anilox rolls come to be? Originally, inks used in the flexographic industry were made from aniline or coal tar derivatives. Early ink delivery systems for flexo were a combination of rubber transfer rolls that had varying amounts of pressure applied to meter the amount of ink transferred to the printing plate.
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