Think of Brazilian beauties and the image that springs to mind tends to involve nubile, thong-clad lovelies playing volleyball on Copacabana beach. Well, Grafitec believes it has found a Brazilian lovely of its own and it can be seen in action in the rather less glamorous location of West Yorkshire's industrial heartland.

The Brazilian press manufacturer in question is Etirama, a company that was established 41 years ago and is successful in South America and elsewhere in the world, but has had relatively little exposure here in Europe up until now. The firm entered the narrow web market in 1997 and now lays claim to being among the leading narrow web press manufacturers with an installed base of more than 1,200 machines worldwide. Etirama's 4,000m2 manufacturing facility is located at Sorocaba, about 60 miles inland from São Paulo.

Bang for your buck
Eagle-eyed Grafitec chairman Tony Barrett spotted Etirama's wares while attending a trade show in Argentina, and as a result of subsequent negotiations, a European demonstration and support centre has been established at Grafitec Web's base near Pontefract, Yorkshire, where an Etirama Flexo Wine press has been installed alongside a Stamp Foil hot-foiling line.

A glance at PrintWeek's Buyers' Guide for narrow web presses makes it abundantly clear how crowded the sector is - so what made Grafitec decide to enter such a competitive space? "Nothing else on the market will give you the
same level of equipment for the price," explains technical director John Ainley. "The quality it produces for its size and price is amazing."

The beneficial exchange rate and low labour costs in Brazil have combined to powerful effect. At the time of writing, the Brazilian reais/euro rate was 2.74 - no wonder the press provides a lot of bang for your buck. And while the automatic reaction from some competitors is to make sniffy comments about the robustness of the press's construction, Ainley asserts that it is manufactured using high-quality materials and describes the engineering as being of "German quality".

More than 150 Flexo Wine presses have been installed worldwide since it was launched around two years ago in locations such as Italy, Bulgaria and France.

The Flexo Wine's central impression cylinder (CIC) and servo controlled unwind and rewind means it can print onto unsupported lightweight substrates as light as 15micron, and up to 300micron thick. Ainley cites this ability to handle such a multitude of substrates as one of the press's main attractions - along with its compact footprint. "It's extremely attractive for small printers who haven't got much space," he adds.
Quality is of a high standard, because once the substrate is on the CIC drum it's fixed so there's no deviation between colours. In fact, this accuracy was a key factor in the purchase of a Flexo Wine by an unnamed UK security printer, which has the first press in this country. "They had a complex, high-precision requirement and our press could do the job nobody else could," states Ainley.

Varied applications
Outside of such specialist one-off security printing requirements, applications among existing Flexo Wine customers include printing sausage cases - such as those on deli salami products - as well as general commercial label printing, which Ainley says is the obvious target area for Grafitec.

The standard configuration is six-colours plus a varnish unit and UV dryer. All print units have doctor blades and there is hot or cold air drying between each unit, with final hot air/infra-red dryer that is independent of the other dryers. Cold foiling with lamination is also included. The Flexo Wine has four die slots that can be configured to provide a range of die-cutting, slitting and perfing options on both the top side and the underside of the substrate. There are two slitters for longitudinal slitting, with space for 10 if required. Finished product can also be sheeted off the end of the press.

The press can produce 125lpi screens using water-based inks, or 150lpi with UV. "The quality people are achieving with it is excellent - from spot-colour labels to very high-quality supermarket-type food labels," adds Ainley.

A basic model costs €100,000 (£85,000), while a more sophisticated configuration comes in at circa €139,000. This includes features such as servo tension control, pneumatic impression, touchscreen operation and anilox rotation to keep the ink fresh when the press is halted.

The machine's unwind and rewind takes 600mm diameter reels as standard, and the maximum print width is either 250mm or 350mm. The maximum repeat length is 425mm. Among the optional extras is the facility to take larger 1,000mm diameter reels, while further options for the production of more complex, higher added-value label products include hot foiling, and video inspection. A triangular guide for aluminium foil printing is also available.

Aside from the price, Ainley cites the Flexo Wine's short web path, quick makereadies and fast and simple access to the printing units as being among its most appealing features. "It literally takes two minutes to strip a unit out and rebuild it," he says.

A steady stream of potential punters has been visiting Yorkshire to view the machine in action, although Ainley admits that it may take a while to grow the UK customer base beyond that solitary security print installation. "The market reaction has been very positive. We've had a good reception and have received a lot of enquiries, but especially in the current economic climate, it can take anything up to 12 months to go from talks to a firm order.