Flint Group, a global manufacturer of printing equipment and consumables, has announced the grand opening of its regional Technology Center Asia Pacific (ATC), located at the Shanghai Publishing and Printing College (SPPC). The Technology Center allows continued expansion of technical support, services and provides a location for state-of-the-art development, plate manufacturing, training, and education.

The company has invested about €2 million in the technology center, where Flint Group technicians cooperate with SPPC members in a 400 square meter space.

“The ATC is an important milestone within our global innovation network to help our customers capturing the growth in the packaging market. We can not only showcase what can be done within the flexographic printing space, but more importantly provide a platform to develop solutions with and for our customers and the entire value chain,” says Friedrich von Rechteren, global commercial vice president.

The Technology Center features a complete solution of nyloflex, nyloprint, rotec and ThermoFlexX plate processing equipment, as well as facilities for training, education, and in-depth evaluation. It offers a productive environment for Flint Group customers to develop future packaging solutions.

“SPPC in Shanghai is a strategic choice for our Technology Center in Asia Pacific, where we are committed to grow. Flint Group has now another unique facility for teaching and testing excellence, incorporating a concept for the development of all kinds of future printing plates and plate processing solutions,” adds von Rechteren.

Roy Schoettle, VP Flexographic Asia Pacific, emphasizes, “Asia has the confluence of large and fast-growing markets. As it is Flint Group’s ambition to become the innovation leader in flexographic plates and sleeves solutions, we are addressing this challenge through continuous innovation for our customers, as well as offering space for developing our employees, as they are our important guarantors for the success of our company.”

One pillar of Flint Group’s customer-centric approach is creating global and regional innovation centers such as the company did with the Global Innovation Center for Paper & Board in Malmö, Sweden, the Global Colour Center in Lodz, Poland, as well as the Flexographic Technical Center in Charlotte, NC, USA and Stuttgart, Germany.