Orora Visual Invests in Revolutionary Sustainable Plate Making Technology
[Mesquite, TX – April 2023]
New water and chemical free process-less plate making innovation to be installed at all four of Orora Visual’s print production facilities in the U.S.
Orora Visual is pleased to announce their substantial investment in a revolutionary water and chemical free lithography (offset printing) plate making process. The Fujifilm SUPERIA ZX is a breakthrough process-less plate development that leverages a thin film coating that is more durable, uses less energy, delivers improved visibility and faster output for press operators, and the best part - it eliminates all water and the need for any chemicals in the process.
Since the lithography process was first invented it always required the engagement of water and liquid chemistry of some kind to develop a coated thermal metal plate. For the first time ever, this innovation has not only reduced that need but has eliminated the wasteful nature of the plate-making process entirely. With the traditional process Orora Visual wasted approximately 2.5 million liters of water every year in its plate-making development. Not to mention, the cost, wastefulness, and possible harmful effects of approximately 9,000 liters of chemistry being flushed down the drain,” said Jim Blee, Vice President, Orora Visual.
Specifically, the new plate-making technology utilizes the existing water on the printing press to “develop or wash” off the plate as opposed to having the pre-press image setter wash away the film coating before it reaches the press. The outcome is that no water is used in the plate imaging process and zero chemicals are needed.
“While this specific breakthrough came about in the last couple of years, Orora Visual is North America’s first adopter of this new process for making plates for the 81” litho press size. This innovation puts us at the forefront of modern litho operations which significantly improves our impact on the world’s water supply,” Blee added.
[OF NOTE: Additionally, Orora Visual recycled 103.8 tons of aluminum litho plates in 2022]
About the Fujifilm SUPERIA ZX Plate
About Orora Visual
Orora Visual’s printing arsenal includes 14 large format litho presses including five 81-inch KBA Rapida 205s, the world’s largest sheetfed offset press at 59.5” x 81”, to support the top sheet/label needs of its packaging customers, and the large format printing needs of its retail and consumer brand customers. In total, Orora has 43 printing presses covering eight print methods across its production facilities in Dallas TX, Orange County CA, Chicago IL, and Clifton NJ.