VERSAILLES, CT - An investment in new technology has allowed Amgraph Packaging to offer flexible packaging with a superior gloss coating - and deliver it weeks faster than ever.

Amgraph Packaging, Inc., a leading printer of flexible packaging in Versailles, Connecticut, has purchased a Stevens II six-color, web-fed lithographic printing press with an in-line lacquering unit and electron beam curing system.

According to Amgraph President Kenneth L. Fontaine, the EB curing technology offers much faster turnaround of customer orders because it allows printing on prelaminated material. Amgraph laminates paper to foil, paper to film, film to film and film to foil. These finished laminates can be stockpiled for fast printing and slitting to order. Conventional heat-set inks require high curing temperatures that might damage laminates, but no heat is required for EB inks and lacquers. EB inks also avoid volatile organic compounds and solvent emissions. They are extremely scuff-resistant and durable on flexible packaging.

The Stevens press has a number of additional features for job-to-job repeatability, registration accuracy and fast setups. There is automatic registration control, provided by a video registration system, and an ink management system with computerized memory. Fountain settings are recorded and stored to save setup time on repeat runs.

Amgraph Packaging provides flexographic, rotogravure and lithographic printing to the flexible packaging industry, specializing in lithographic printing for new product introductions, product line extensions, tandem co-extrusion laminations and coatings, adhesive laminations, and other short-run applications. The company makes substantial and frequent capital investment in advanced technology, and has a strong commitment to technologies that are "environment-friendly."