Fotograbados Lynch SRL is a leading flexographic plate trade shop in Argentina. Lynch’s vision is to supply brand owners and converters with the latest technologies to improve print quality while reducing operational costs.

Diego Zarlenga is the General Manager of Lynch, and his goal is to keep his business growing, innovative, and healthy.

“When looking at technologies to adopt within our business portfolio, we consider what difference they can make to our business and how we can help our customers stand apart from their competitors and other print methods.”

“In 2018, we were looking for a technology that allowed us to convert jobs from rotogravure to flexo easily. The existing technologies were very limited in terms of the resolution and smoothness necessary in the small details. We tried the popular AM screens, but the results were lagging behind those of rotogravure, and it was challenging to achieve consistency with the higher line AM screens.”

Lynch has two primary business areas: Rotogravure and Flexo.

“As a business, we deal directly with brand owners, it gives them visibility of what printing technologies are available to utilize, and we can provide them with options to ensure the best results without sacrificing printing quality. This approach also encompasses the other factors that come into play, including price, sustainability, and run length.”

“Lynch is a recognized innovator in Argentina; we use the Esko workflow, Equinox, we have three production line CDI Crystal 5080, XPS 5080, we are 100% LED exposure. We offer expanded gamut and MacDermid ITP60 flat-top dot plate technology. Brands and converters appreciate our pioneering approach and technical investments - this is how we offer a premium flexo product.”

“As with most innovators, we don’t rest. We research new technologies that outpace our competition and allow our customers to grow. Working with our plate supplier MacDermid, they introduced us to Hamillroad and the Bellissima Digitally Modulated Screening.”

“Bellissima piqued our interest after viewing some print samples, and we decided to test it. We follow our standard protocol with any new technology that we assess – optimization, fingerprint, and characterization. Our protocol was in alignment with the steps to success program Hamillroad used to get us started - we felt reassured from the offset.”

“Once set up, we decided to jump in at the deep end and see if we could rival a rotogravure job with Bellissima. The success criteria for the gravure to flexo conversion was: image fidelity, reproduction in the high-lights, solid coverage, and good contrast. With the direct involvement and support of the brand owner, Lynch utilized MacDermid and Hamillroad and completed a successful first production run of the job.

The brand owner, a multi-national consumer goods company, agreed to contract more of its gravure jobs over to flexo because of Bellissima.”

“Customers strive for print consistency, and one of the biggest compliments about Bellissima, from brands and printers, is that, in their own words, ‘how the job starts – it ends,’ and that is a big deal for all concerned. We’ve seen one set of plates go on a wide-web flexibles machine and run for 2.0 million linear meters with Bellissima, and from the first pull to the last – there was no change.”

“During our first job with Bellissima, the experienced flexo press operators were amazed by the detail and the photorealistic images that they were printing - the brand owner clapped the job at the end of the run!”

“We’re converting more jobs to expanded gamut; this is helping our converter customers reduce job setup times and waste – a typical example of this is from 2 hours, down to 20 minutes. We also see customers moving 7 color jobs down to 5 colors due to Bellissima’s wider tonal range. Converters are happy to take on shorter runs with Bellissima, and this prevents the adoption of digital printing - we’re giving longer life to flexo!”

“I am pleased with the way Hamillroad collaborates with us. The technology is plug-and-play when you follow the steps to success. On the few occasions that we have encountered a problem, the support at Hamillroad has been proactive and quick to resolve things. One example of this was when we needed a new screen-set and dot configuration – the team took our feedback, and Hamillroad’s development team was able to provide us with a solution to address specific printing challenges.”

“From our initial negotiations with Hamillroad through to training and ongoing customer support, it was a smooth process. Hamillroad took the time to clearly understand our needs, which helped us quickly develop a strong business relationship where we share information and ideas to improve flexo.”

“Today, Bellissima is the best flexo solution in the market – it’s our flagship offering for Argentina. I recommend it to any converters, trade-shops, printers, or brand owners looking to acquire new business and reduce costs.”