Creation Reprographics, a UK-based prepress partner to packaging and label printers, has signed a four-year deal to supply Flenex FW, a sustainably focused water-washable flexo plate developed by multinational electronics and technology company Fujifilm.

Representing another key step forward for Creation, the plates underline the company’s ambition to be the most sustainable business of its kind. The business proudly supports its print customers across the FMCG, food and beverage sectors with prepress, origination and workflow solutions that enhance environmentally optimised packaging and label production.

Creation has offered solvent-free flexo plates in its range for several years but believes that Flenex FW represents a new peak for the technology – and an enhanced value proposition for its print customers.

Matt Francklow, managing director at Creation, explains, “In today’s ever-shifting retail market, the pressure is on for printers to deliver quality, speed and cost control – but always with an eye to supply chain sustainability. There’s a fantastic wave of innovation in ‘greener’ prepress, and Flenex FW water-washable flexo plates are a superb example of this in action.

“By eliminating harmful VOC solvent washout from the prepress process, there are significant gains to be made in carbon emission reduction. The technology directly challenges the idea that sustainability is a compromise – Flenex FW plates bring exceptional quality, reduced makeready of under 40 minutes and lower cost-in-use than traditional thermal or solvent polymer plates.”

In addition to integrating renewable technologies into its prepress facilities and holding ISO14001 accreditation for environmental systems management, Creation offers a collection of sustainability focused products and services for its print customers. Alongside solvent-free flexo plate technologies, Creation champions color management services and fixed color palette (FCP) printing, which minimises the need for spot colur inks.

Supporting its long-term sustainability strategy, Creation has also joined Business Climate Leaders, a contingent of UK businesses committing to halving their carbon emissions by 2030, with the goal of making 2050’s ‘Net Zero’ targets more achievable. The company is also a registrant of UN Global Compact, an initiative aiming to transform the world through sustainable development goals.

Francklow adds, “We are delighted to work with Fujifilm, one of the most established names in the print technology industry, to offer Flenex FW to our customers. With exceptional precision at 200lpi at 4000dpi, reduced dot gain and better ink transfer for brighter and more vivid color, printers are seeing that water-washable plates are not a gimmick. They’re adding real value, reducing waste and strengthening flexo quality at the same time. We believe they’re the future of high-performance print, and excitingly, it’s all technology that is available today.”