The line, named Gemini, is sited at a new facility in Weatherford, Oklahoma and was officially opened last Friday (18 October).
The line forms a sister operation to the company’s existing manufacturing facility in Yamanashi, Japan.
Designed to meet increasing industry demand for flexo-printed packaging, it will initially produce flexo plates for customers in the US, Canada, and Latin America.
Miraclon was established earlier this year, when Montagu Private Equity acquired Kodak’s flexo division in a $340m (£262m) deal, but ground was broken on the project in April 2017, with the first Kodak Flexcel NX plate produced last October. The new line represents a $15m investment.
Miraclon chief executive Chris Payne said: “This is a momentous occasion for Miraclon. Just six months after our spin-out from Kodak, we mark one of our first major milestones with the completion of this project, on time and on target.
“While it demonstrates Miraclon’s ongoing commitment to invest in and expand the market for flexographic printing, the second manufacturing facility also brings source of supply closer to a large portion of our customer base and expands the manufacturing footprint of FlexCel NX plates to two sites.”
The completion of the line follows other recent advances for Miraclon, including the launch of the solvent-free processing FlexCel NX Ultra system to the European market in September.
