Gravure Cylinders: Meeting the Challenge

Karl Bardin states, “…flexography has continued to take market share from gravure printers, because flexography can produce market-acceptable packaging for less money than gravure.” In order to remain competitive and gain market share, gravure needs to examine where to cut cost and time (Bardin, 2001).

In the winter of 1985, Executive Vice President of the GTA, McKinley Luther, wrote an article for the Technical Association’s bulletin. The piece described many of the areas in which the gravure process was seeing improvements. Mr. Luther mentioned direct digital imaging, laser imaging and engraving, and also touched on the use of cylinder sleeves or wraparound plates. The primary focus of his article is the ground today’s innovators are finally breaking. Luther’s focus—“The cylinder is gravure’s big challenge.” (Bardin, 2001).