Schreiner Group specialises in the development and production of functional labels and marking solutions for a wide range of industries. It has international production sites in Germany, the USA and China, all of which have the same high quality and technology standards as well as the corresponding certifications.
At the headquarters in Oberschleißheim near Munich, production is additionally certified for the highest security requirements. The international sales network comprises 26 countries and over 1,200 employees.
Originally, Schreiner Group purchased all flexographic printing plates externally. A project aimed at producing printing plates internally started with the investment of a compact production line for solvent-washable flexographic printing plates. After the process was integrated into the quality management (QM) system, the improvement process was continuously worked on.
The turnaround time required to supply a flexographic printing plate quickly became a sticking point - and DuPont had an innovative, solvent-free system in its product portfolio early on in the form of the DuPont™ Cyrel® FAST system. The first tests with analogue printing forms did not meet the requirements - the immense potential of the digital version was all the more convincing. And so the now existing Computer To Plate (CTP) production at Schreiner Group was combined with the digital DuPont™ Cyrel® FAST technology. This was the beginning of a long and successful collaboration -now spanning decades.
"With conventional solvent-based platemaking, there were challenges in providing the printing plates to the presses reliably and on time. And this in parallel with shortening deadlines. The then-common manufacturing method could not achieve this goal - not by a long shot. Together with DuPont, both on-time delivery and process capability could be increased to previously unimaginable levels. The intensive and professional project work paid off in full. And: Why should a printing deadline be postponed into the future just because a single component, i.e. the printing forme production, requires more lead time due to the system?", comments project manager Markus Petratschek.
In 2017, the predecessor model Cyrel® FAST 1001 TD was replaced by the latest thermal Cyrel® FAST 2000 TD processor. "The higher dimensional accuracy of the developed printing form, especially the no longer relevant variance between the measured values along and across the development direction is a decisive criterion with the FAST 2000 TD. Together with optimisations in the manufacturing process, flexotype dot breakage and dot gain shortly after the first printing dot are no longer an issue. Technical halftone gradients over the entire tonal range can now be realised in the print result exactly as desired by the customer in the digital file. Transferred to small characters and microtexts, we at Schreiner Group can realise the values requested in the customer's file without modification. A quantum leap," confirms Markus Petratschek.
Schreiner Group's customers receive high-end flexo printing results - to the extent that the target specifications contained in the customer files are realised without modification. The use of customer files without adaptation, which customers are accustomed to from offset printing, was previously not possible in flexo printing.
These flexotype adjustments were a delicate and sensitive issue for customers. With DuPont™ Cyrel® FAST technology, Schreiner Group can ensure that the flexographic printing forms customers are accustomed to are produced in defined quality and quantity at every production site. "As we are currently very satisfied and in line with the motto "never change a winning system", we have decided to purchase a second Cyrel® FAST 2000 TD, also because maintenance, calibration and repair costs achieve dream actual values. Nevertheless, we continue to strive and rely on DuPont's technological expertise for the next evolutionary stages," Markus Petratschek summarises.
"With its high-tech products, Schreiner Group is one of the label printers with the highest demands on quality and reliability. We are all the happier about the trust that this customer has placed in our sustainable Cyrel® FAST system for several equipment generations. The close cooperation and exchange with Schreiner's specialists also drives our development processes and promotes the continuous improvement of our products. We look to the future with confidence and rely on our proven close cooperation with important industry players such as Schreiner Group," affirms Sven Hampl, DuPont Cyrel® Solutions.
