The pre-print stage - Quality right from the start Why REUTHER VERPACKUNG retains its own pre- print stage and why customers benefit from it is best shown by reviewing the process itself. As one of the few manufacturers of flexible packaging, REUTHER VERPACKUNG produces rotogravure cylinders completely on its own. Following receipt of the art work from the customer, the pre-print stage starts. The end-products are the rotogravure cylinders for one print motif. In principle, the rotogravure printing process is undisputedly the highest quality in the field of flexible food packaging. As with all extreme precision processes, here too there are differences in the details of the process which transform a good printing result into an excellent one. REUTHER VERPACKUNG, as the first German manufacturer of flexible packaging, had already begun to work with rotogravure in 1933. The know-how accumulated over many decades today makes us the quality supplier in our sector. The process in the pre-print stage has been constantly changing in the last 70 years and on many occasions, REUTHER VERPACKUNG was actively involved in the development. Initially, each print design is electronically processed and a digital proof is produced. On the basis of this data, the supplied raw cylinders with various diameters, which are galvanically provided with a copper coating at REUTHER VERPACKUNG, are engraved. The considerably more precise and faster process of engraving making use of diamond tappets has long since replaced the out-dated process of etching. Following engraving, the printing cylinders are chromed in a further processing stage in order to achieve the required surface hardness and thus long running times. From each print design, a proof is produced on original printing material like that subsequently used in the printing machine, on a one-cylinder proof-press. In this process, also the ink recipe can be modified to get the best result. In this way, we avoid subsequent waste on the large printing machine. There are many small steps in the production of a complete set of cylinders. For us and our customers, it is an irrefutable argument that, immediately following receipt of the art-work, our experts are in a position to exert a decisive influence on the further production process. Even if all the processes are planned with such an eye for detail, occasionally corrections must still be made to a printing design which have to be effected very quickly. Here, we can respond flexibly and produce solutions at short notice. We wish to retain this small but occasionally decisive competitive benefit for the future!