Tresu has introduced iTape, an adhesive tape specially formulated to optimize stability, print quality and efficiency when used with sleeves on flexo coaters that are integrated with digital folding carton printing lines.

Developed in partnership with Lohmann Bonding Engineers, based in Neuwied, Germany, iTape has adhesive on both sides and features a filmic carrier that enables excellent dot gain control and precise control of varnish transfer at maximum speeds of 4600 sheets per hour. The tape also enables fast, frictionless demounting without the chance of damage to the sleeve. 

Kim Krintel, vice president of Tresu’s Digital Solutions division that specializes in coating solutions for digital folding carton printing lines, comments: “iTape gives folding carton printers an adhesive that is fine-tuned to deliver stability at high speeds and save consumable costs in situations where short production runs and repeat orders are frequent requirements. With the introduction, Tresu gives printers who integrate a flexo coating operation into their production line a single, complete source of perfectly compatible equipment, varnish media and consumable products that have been rigorously tested for smooth and efficient operation.”

Tresu and Lohmann have collaborated closely together for several years, with the aim of improving cost-effectiveness of the flexo process. The use of a Tresu print-simulation unit at Lohmann’s FlexoLAB research center has enabled the company to explore the behavior of tapes in realistic working conditions and develop new products with improved bonding properties. Lohmann has also achieved advances in tape performance for a range of high-speed flexo applications thanks to tests on the Flexo Innovator printing line at the Tresu Demo Center, located at the company’s global headquarters in Kolding, Denmark.