Sun Chemical’s Bob Lorenz will discuss products for the future of the prepress industry during a seminar at 9 am on March 4, held at the Flexographic Pre-Press Platemakers Association Annual Conference. Held in Indian Wells, CA, USA on March 2-4, the FPPA Annual Conference will cover upcoming trends and themes affecting flexographic printers in the future.

During the seminar titled “Investing in Your Future through Innovative Solutions,” Lorenz will provide an overview of the products Sun Chemical is developing to manage color, transform packaging, and enable future innovations.

Lorenz, a vice president of Business Development at Sun Chemical, will highlight the success flexo printers have experienced using Sun Chemical’s SunGraphics HD Plates – a line of high definition flexographic plates featuring Esko HD software and CDI high resolution imaging. Converters that utilize the HD printing plates can print with an image quality of up to 4,000 PPI resulting in expanded tonal range and wider color gamut to produce sharper more vibrant images and colors.

During the presentation, he will introduce Sun Chemical’s SunInspire specialty coatings which are designed to “engage the senses by enhancing packages with metallic, glow-in-the-dark, fluorescent or photochromic inks to tactile, velvet feel and soft feel coatings that invite the touch of fingers, add shelf appeal, and even interact with consumers using the sense of smell.”

Lorenz will discuss the transformation of packaging, including the use of oxygen barrier coatings. Sun Chemical’s SunBar Oxygen Barrier Coatings are designed to enable lightweighting of packaging by removing the metal foil and one layer of adhesive from packaging, as well as offering improved laminate flexibility. A smooth, homogenous, pinhole-free layer, SunBar is easily overprinted with inks and can be laminated to a variety of secondary films. SunBar is cost-effective, recyclable, biodegradable and press-ready, allowing for lighter-weight packaging, a reduced carbon footprint, and easy application with few changes to current equipment.

He will also highlight Sun Chemical’s partnership to provide Touchcode technology which allows consumers to interact with packaging via smartphones and tablets. Flexible and robust enough to be printed on various substrates, this technology elevates the consumer experience quickly and inexpensively.

“Sun Chemical is more than an ink company,” Lorenz says. “The innovation we provide through our own research and development and through strategic partnerships can give our customers a complete solution that enables best in class packaging designs worldwide now and in the future.”

Lorenz joined Sun Chemical in 1979 and held numerous positions within the company’s operations, sales and business development departments in an effort to grow the company in key global markets. In 2009 Lorenz was awarded the prestigious Printing Ink Pioneer Award, presented by NAPIM for his influence with printers and consumer packaged goods companies.