Company Confidential
vipFLEX2 and PlateQuality Flexo
Product Information
June 24, 2008
Company Confidential
ProfileMaker 5 Packaging
InkFormulation
v
ipP
A
Q
Color
Quality
(Part of Ink
Formulation
Printer Pro)
QA
Spot Measurement
ICC Profilin
g
Test chart
Characterization data
Inline Process Control
Basic Color Set
Ink Formulation
GOP Profilin
g
IFS Recipe
Formulated Colors
Process Control Information
Optical density target values
Press
• Plate control is an important
part of the workflow
• X-Rite is the market leader
in color management
solutions for flexographic
workflows.
vipFLEX2
Flexo Plate Setter
Plate Control
X-Rite Solutions for Flexo (Packaging)
Company Confidential
• Reduce cost, consumables and down time
– Stopping the press, caused by insufficient quality of the
printing plate production process, can be avoided before
extensive amounts of paper and ink are wasted
• Quality Output
– Improved quality is always the primary goal
– Printers want to be able to give QA assurances to their
customers
• Achieve ISO Standards
– The measurement values from vipFLEX2 may be tracked
to meet documentation requirements of ISO
Customer Requirements
Company Confidential
• Quality control of exposed and developed printing plates
– Early recognition of mistakes
• Avoid problems in production process
• Save time by avoiding multiple restarts of the same job
• Save ink and paper by running the press only with
plates that have been quality-checked
– CTP operator can obtain a quality proof of job before
going to press
– Reduce waste by reducing the number of iterations
needed to obtain a corrected plate
• Reduce setup time for flexo CTP machines. vipFLEX2 helps
to quickly calibrate flexo CTP devices
• Traceable data
– All measurements can be stored with the included
PlateQuality Flexo software
vipFLEX2 Value Propositions
Company Confidential
vipFLEX2 solution includes:
• vipFLEX2 measurement device
– Desktop flexo plate reader for transparent flexo plates
• PlateQuality Flexo software
– Database software for plate quality assurance
– Same look-and-feel as PlateQuality software for X-
Rite’s family of offset plate control devices
• vipFLEX2 Target
– Tool that allows user to check the accuracy of the
vipFLEX2 device at print site.
vipFLEX2 Product Description
Company Confidential
• Measures all transparent flexo plate types (non-transparent
flexo plates, which make about 10 % of all flexo plates are not
supported)
• Supports AM and FM screening (FM limited to the highlights and
shadows), as well as “Samba” (Hybrid) screening on flexo plates
• Also measures paper, film and offset plates
• All needed parameters for plate analysis are available: dot area,
dot size, screen ruling, edge factor, mottling and visual analysis
• The Micrometer feature makes it possible to measure within the
image, meaning that bar codes can also be analyzed.
vipFLEX2 Capabilities
Company Confidential
• Sensor RGB camera 1280 x 1024
• Resolution Sensor 14‘000ppi
• Pixel size: 1.8 x 1.8 micrometers
• Illumination RGB (auto selection)
• Measurement area 2.3 x 1.9 mm
•Interface USB
• Power Supply USB (Standard)
vipFLEX2 Technology
Company Confidential
vipFLEX2 vs. vipFLEX
Added Values of vipFLEX2 versus the former vipFLEX device:
• Higher accuracy, due to the camera’s higher resolution and larger aperture
vipFLEX vipFLEX2
10’000DPI 14’000DPI
640x480 VGA 1280x1024 SXVGA
2.5um/Pixel 1.8um/Pixel
1.6x1.2mm² 2.3x1.9mm²
• Easier installation with the new camera driver
Manual adjustments of the camera settings are no longer required
• Ease-of-use with improved brightness
vipFLEX devices can be upgraded to vipFLEX2:
• Device needs to be sent to X-Rite Service for upgrade
• Customer receives updated and recertified instrument, together with a
PlateQuality Flexo software update
Company Confidential
Plate quality assurance software for flexography with unique
capabilities for fast and flexible quality control in flexo plate
production
– Stores, visualizes, and documents both individual measurements
and plate characteristic curve measurements
– Measurement values and plate images are both stored in a
database
PlateQuality Flexo Software
Company Confidential
Benefits
History Tracking / Data Management:
• Automatic storage of measurement values and images in a database to
document and trace all measurements.
• Contains job, customer, reference and measurement value database so you
can classify and order the data. This helps to find and trace measurement
data quickly and easily.
• All associated and relevant data, such as plate type, screening, imager,
chemistry data, etc. can be stored and documented.
• All types of control wedges are supported, as the reference curves with
the tolerance specification are customizable.
Data Processing:
• Measurement data and images can be exported for a more in-depth
analysis.
• Measurement data and images can be printed in multiple layouts
PlateQuality Flexo Software
Company Confidential
System requirements:
• Pentium III 700 MHz or higher
• Windows 2000 or XP
• Min. 64 MB RAM, Min. 50 MB free hard disc space
• 2 USB ports (Dongle and device)
• Monitor with at least 24 bit color and a resolution of at least 1024x768 pixels
Miscellaneous:
• Supported devices:
– X-Rite vipFLEX2
– X-Rite/GretagMacbeth vipFLEX
– vipflex 334 (Labels: Viptronic, Beta, FAG)
• Supported languages, incl. Help:
– English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Russian
• Protection:
– The software is dongle-protected and is delivered with a USB dongle.
Demo Version (unprotected dongle):
• For demo purposes, the software can be used without a measurement device.
• Can be downloaded from our website: www.xrite.com
PlateQuality Flexo Software
Company Confidential
The vipFLEX2 Target allows the user to check the accuracy of the
device at print site.
Description
• The vipFLEX2 Target tool set is a reference plaque
with a 9 step wedge and is valid for two years.
• To store and track the measurements the target is
supported by PlateQuality Flexo software.
Benefits
• The vipFLEX2 Target gives the user the assurance
that vipFLEX2 always measures correctly.
• Support of ISO 9000 process with the ability
to store the data and to print out reports.
vipFLEX2 Target
Company Confidential
vipFLEX2 (P/N: VPFLX2):
• Package includes: vipFLEX2 device, vipFLEX2 Target,
PlateQuality Flexo software, dongle, Quick Start guide
Upgrade from previous vipFLEX (P/N: VPFLX2-UPG):
• Package includes: vipFLEX2 hardware upgrade, new vipFLEX2 Target,
PlateQuality Flexo software update
Upgrade older vipFLEX 334 (Viptronic, FAG and Beta devices) (P/N: VPFLX2-334UPG):
• Benefits:
– vipFLEX2 Target to verify the device
– Comprehensive PlateQuality Flexo software
• Package includes: vipFLEX2 target, PlateQuality Flexo software, dongle,
Quick Start guide
Trade-In older vipFLEX 330, 333 (Viptronic, FAG and Beta devices) (P/N: VPFLX2-T):
• Customer needs to return PC-Card and data cable
• Main benefits of new system with respect to the old system:
– Color camera for more precise measurement results
– More versatile with improved, adjustable algorithm in the software
– Comprehensive PlateQuality Flexo software and vipFLEX2 target to verify the device
• Package includes: vipFLEX2 device, vipFLEX2 Target, PlateQuality Flexo software, dongle, Quick Start guide
vipFLEX2 Target (Part Number: VPFLX2-TGT):
• Needs be replaced every 2 years
vipFLEX2 Packages
Company Confidential
Added value with respect to QEA (Flexo IAS: ~ $12.000, Flexo Light: ~ $
7.000):
• vipFLEX2 has a much higher resolution (QEA: 5 µm/pixel, vipFLEX2 1,8 µm/pixel).
This ensures more precise measurements, especially for small dots.
• vipFLEX2 has a much shorter measurement time (vipFLEX2: < 0.5 sec., QEA:
typically 6 seconds) .
•The automatic mode of vipFLEX2 helps to simplify measurements. With the QEA
device, no automatic mode is available.
• Light version supports only Flexo plates and film (no foils, no paper) and limited
functionality (no barcode measurements, no mottle, no edge factor, no dot void factor)
•The vipFLEX2 Target tool helps support the ISO 9000 process at customer sites and
ensures high quality measurements over time.
• vipFLEX2 includes the comprehensive PlateQuality Flexo software to support all
quality assurance needs. QEA does not offer any database software.
Æ QEA’s device is rarely seen in the market (only in US)
vipFLEX2 is the market leader for flexo plate
measurements
vipFLEX2 Competitive Positioning
Company Confidential
Added value with respect to Troika FlexoCam (9’000 EURO):
• vipFLEX2 is much easier to operate. With vipFLEX2 the plate can easily
be positioned in a well-lighted, visible spot on the desktop in order to
execute the measurement. The heavy Troika device (2.2 kg, 5.0 lbs)
needs to be placed manually on the plate, with a barely visible
measurement spot
• vipFLEX2 supports additional parameters such as edge factor, dot void
factor and mottling
• With vipFLEX2 no manual focus adjustments are needed. With the Troika
device the focus needs to be manually adjusted, which might lead to errors
• Troika recommends to brush a special powder on the plate before
measurement. With vipFLEX2 no additional consumable is required
• The vipFLEX2 Target tool helps to support the ISO 9000 process at
customer sites and ensures high quality measurements over time
• vipFLEX2 includes the PlateQuality Flexo software to support all quality
assurance needs. Troika does not offer any database storage capability
and plate characteristic measurements are not possible.
vipFLEX2 Competitive Positioning
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