The BFT Flexo line for inking and washing systems is expanding

The new additions to the product family are the GTX, GTS and G-TERM series with great new features.

Innovation and technology: these are the key points of BFT Flexo, the Italian company that designs and manufactures innovative inking and washing systems for flexographic printing. The new GTX/S series is dedicated to flexographic machines with more than 2 colours and offers two different configurations according to the type of machine structure.

The GTX-MCI line is designed for central drum or stack machines and offers a compact turret configuration with 2 to 12 printing units with an operator interface mounted in the system or on the side of the machine. The GTS line is instead intended for machines with in-line printing units and includes individual units placed on the side of the printing unit. They are equipped with an operator interface dedicated to each station, with the possibility of adding a master for the simultaneous control of all stations from a single location. GTS line is compatible also for coating.

“The BFT Flexo systems find strong applications thanks to their ease of use and fast installation” says   Alberto Ferrara, Engineer and commercial director, who adds “when the operators put their hands on our system for the first time at our clients’ premises, they are extremely impressed by how wasy and fast it is to make a colour change”.

The user interface allows adjusting the speed of the pumps and pressure inside the doctor's chamber with just one easy operation, and then to store them. An easy operation that required a lot of time and experience to find the right balance on most machines and avoid a loss of colour or lack of colour when printing.

The washing speed and efficiency are ensured by using peristaltic pumps and diaphragm pumps, finely controllable in speed through the convenient touch operator panels on board the system; and by the integrated tank that allows re-heating the wash water, guaranteeing about a 50% saving. 

Saving is the important element of the design logic that allows BFT Flexo to develop systems able to reduce water consumption drastically with a consequent amortisation of the disposal or treatment costs, as well as to limit the ink waste that can be reused for other processes.

“The use of various sensors of the latest technology within our systems and the development of software able to manage and optimise them to the best, have allowed us to obtain an intelligent and innovative system, able to monitor the status autonomously, perform fast and effective self-diagnosis and self-calibration operations according to the work on the machine, optimising consumption and eliminating any waste” says Simone Bonaria, engineer and technical director.

Thanks to the system's modular design and to the new part of software dedicated to self-diagnosis, the system is able to prevent 90% of ordinary and extraordinary maintenance operations, signalling the need for intervention in advance. Any intervention will require to stop the machine for a very short time thanks to the possibility to change the module in less than 15 minutes.

The company has worked extensively on the machine interface, thus allowing the manufacturers to interface and communicate easily with the system, exchanging useful data to monitor the productivity and costs with the possibility to always request the best in terms of system efficiency.

BFT Flexo is always looking for innovations to develop new products able to guarantee optimal printing performances, reducing waste to a minimum. The new G-TERM ink temperature control system is an example: thanks to the use of new technologies, the system is able to manage the circulating ink temperatures, thus guaranteeing the right viscosity when printing.
 “We believe in innovation greatly and we dedicate a lot of resources to R&D by developing partnerships with companies not only in the technology sector, to elevate all the technology on the entire flexographic printing process. In 2019 we expect further innovations including the launch of some new products entirely dedicated to the corrugated cardboard sector” says Bonaria.

Source: BFT Flexo