Mario Busshoff

The printing and packaging industry has had to withstand significant and constant pressure since the economic collapse at the end of 2008. De-stocking of raw materials to this industry has resulted in unprecedented raw material prices, while the price of energy continues to rise towards record levels.

Flint Group Flexographic Products has began the process of imposing price increases on average by 5 per cent for nyloflex printing plates and by 10 per cent for nyloprint printing plates, with immediate effect. The company says the printing and packaging industry has had to withstand significant and constant pressure since the economic collapse at the end of 2008, and the price incrases are a result of the global raw material situation. A company statement outlines, “De-stocking of raw materials to this industry has resulted in unprecedented raw material prices, while the price of energy continues to rise towards

Luxembourg – Flint Group is pleased to announce the promotion of Mario Busshoff as President, Flint Group Flexographic Products division with effect from 1st January 2011. As part of his enlarged role Mario Busshoff will join Flint Group's Executive Management Team (EMT) and will report directly to Antoine Fady, who has been appointed as CEO of Flint Group from 1st January 2011. Mario Busshoff, at present Vice President and General Manager of the Flexographic Products division, joined Flint Group through the Day International acquisition in 2007.

In developing the endless photopolymer sleeves we have therefore been able to draw upon extensive experience with ITR printing forms, sleeves and adapter systems. [...] in terms of both the base sleeve and the manufacturing technology, nyloflex® ITR Thin and nyloflex® ITR Classic are based on existing rotec expertise. The wall thickness of the Thin version is 1.570 mm, that of the Classic version 3.165 mm. These sizes are equivalent to using printing plates in the standard commercial thickness of 1.14 mm and 2.84 mm respectively. For customers, this in turn represents a kind of standard in terms of printing forms, regardless of whether a mounted printing plate or an ITR sleeve is used. [...] they have reported improvements in colour transfer and advantages in laser imaging. [...] we may be able to modify the raw material used for the new nyloflex® FAB plate, which is designed specifically for printing with UV-inks, so that it can be used for ITR sleeves. Since components such as polymers, sleeves, adapters and processing units all come from a single source, Flint Group Flexographic Products is able to operate as a full-system supplier. Since the dimensions of nyloflex® ITR sleeves are based exactly on the conventional system, existing adapters can be still used. [...] users can choose alternative endless sleeves with specific print characteristics without having to invest in new peripherals.