Flint Group A re-introduction Rich Emmerling Technical Manager Flint Group Flexographic Products Having the speaking slot right after lunch can be a challange but this is a better slot as compared to the last two times I have skoken at the FPPA these slots were the last talk of the FPPA and the golf outing followed. By reintroduction I mean that we have had a a strong corrugated product for several years but have not gained a signficant market share in the US. In Europe we are the market leader with this product line. Our US market share can be attributed to a number of reasons but but plate material quality or print quality are not factors. Today I will go over our correugated product line. Followed by our thin plate technology and end with Flint Groups managing the platemaking waste stream program. But first a quick FG overvciew.

? A History BASF Morrison Inks Inks Chemicals B&T CQIB Temple Inks News/Publication

Flint Group Divisions Packaging & Narrow Web Pigments Print Media Flexo Inks Gravure Inks Offset Inks Packaging Pigments Print Media Pigments Coatings Plates Sleeves Plate Making Equipment Offset Inks Blankets Pressroom Chemicals News Inks Commercial Printing

Quick Facts 140 Facilities, in over 40 countries worldwide ~ 7,500 People Revenues of $3.5 billion in 2009 100% derived from sales to the printing and packaging industry #1 or #2 in all markets served Flint Group was formed from the merger of XSYS Print Solutions and Flint Ink in 2005 XSYS was the combined companies of ANI and BASF Printing Products (2004) Flint Group acquired Day International/Rotec in 2007

North American Plates Facility North American Technical & Training Center In Charlotte, NC with nyloflex® FV flowliner, drier, top lift exposure unit, image analysis systems, and ablative lasers. Team of experienced Technical Service people for plates set up and equipment installation & training.

Product Portfolio Flexo Plates Letterpress Plates Equipment & Solvents Sleeves, Service & More!

Differentiate to Thrive Offer something different to your customers Rich Emmerling Technical Manager Flint Group Flexographic Products Now to move into the corrugated section

Surviving in a challenging economy requires differentiating yourself in the market. Offering new products to your customers – ones that address their need for quality and value – set you apart from your competition. In the spirit of differentiation, Flint Group is introducing two new products for the corrugated market, and a new, thinner plate that will address both quality and sustainability concerns.

Corrugated Industry Focus For too long it’s been a " me too" world for corrugated post print plate products Everyone was after the formidable leader to duplicate the performance of the market leading product Each supplier has developed a product that is essentially similar to that market leader But now it’s time to do something different . . . Flint Group has refocused its product development on the corrugated post print market to introduce new products that take the print performance for corrugated to new levels Our R&D department took some unique steps to learn more concerning the plate needs of the corrugated market, besides the usual required physical properties like solvent swell resistance, high chip resistance in the W/O unit, and robust finished plate storage properties. The development group actually decided to leave the labs and look into non traditional areas for ideas and they were good enough to share a couple of these with me.

nyloflex® FAC The premium, high quality plate for corrugated post print Available in digital and conventional Wide market share globally Proven high quality printing plate Conventional up to 52x80" 32 Shore A

nyloflex® FCC The " economic" alternative to FAC Durable, ideal for line and halftone work on a variety of boards Very good ink transfer and solids coverage, even on coarse liners 32 Shore A

Requirements of Corrugated Post Print Print Quality Dealing with the trend to lower liner quality Lower board quality demands a plate that will work with low impression to avoid compression of flute The market needs a plate that will provide excellent solids coverage, print clean, open reverses, and minimize dot gain Can these requirements be filled with one plate type? What would be the effect of using a harder plate? Would a softer plate be able to reduce impression while still providing smooth ink lay down and still print with low level of dot gain?

Introducing New products for the corrugated post print market FSC – a soft durometer (25 Shore A) plate for excellent solids coverage with fine, detailed reverse and positive printing on A-, B-, C-Flute, rough surfaces, recycled, and low quality liners FHC – a higher durometer (38 Shore A) product for high end post print applications on C-, E-, Micro-Flute coated and uncoated liners

nyloflex® FSC – High Quality Print Conventional and Digital Excellent solids coverage, particularly on low cost liners Very good ink transfer Deep, sharp reverses, for excellent print results Superior performance in line work Also suitable for halftone work

nyloflex® FSC Digital – Cost Efficient & Reliable Standard solid plate processing Superior durability and long lifetime, no chipping Processes in standard equipment Established, proven technology Easy handling – fast processing Reduced plate cleaning Excellent plate thickness tolerance

nyloflex® FHC Conventional and Digital Excellent dot reproduction Fine line and reverse printing Excellent ink transfer Wide exposure latitude Longer press life Excellent impression latitude

Print Trials Two separate print trials were conducted with all products Trials were done at Clemson University on the Bobst press and at Fox Valley Technical College on their Grant International Workhorse press

Print Results – Hard Plate/Coated Board

Hard Plate – Coated/Dot Gain Standard Hard Sharper detail More open shadows Comparable solid coverage Slightly sharper reverses Standard

Hard Plate – Coated/Solid Standard

Hard Plate/Reverse Print Coated Standard

Print Results – Soft Plate/Coated Board

Soft Plate – Coated/Dot Gain Standard Soft Equal dot gain. Better solid coverage The ultra fine reverses were slightly more closed Standard

Soft Plate – Coated/Solid Standard Soft

Soft Plate – Reverse Print/Coated Standard Soft

Print Results – Soft Plate/Uncoated Board

Soft Plate – Uncoated/Dot Gain Standard Soft Less image gain Standard Soft

Soft Plate – Uncoated/Kraft/Solid Standard Soft

Soft Plate – Reverse Print/Uncoated Standard Soft

The broadest product line for corrugated Conventional and Digital Conventional and Digital Conventional Conventional and Digital Hardness (Shore A)

nyloflex® Product Range Product Application Board Quality Hardness Shore A FHC/FHC D Pre-, Post Print Very High 38 FAC/FAC D Post Print High 32 FCC Standard FSC/FSC D Basic, Low 25

nylosolv ® Low odor Rarely requires balancing Low plate swell for shorter drying times Low plate swell prevents chipping in washout unit Largest market share of washout solvents in Europe

Conclusions The softer plate produces excellent solids coverage at lower impressions levels, with clean, open reverses, and comparable dot gain to harder plates The harder plate prints as well as current 32 Shore A products but has the durability of a harder plate The harder plate provided a higher impression latitude without showing distortion of the finer detail

Ultra Thin Plates

What are Ultra Thin Plates? Flexographic plates with a thickness of .030" (0.76 mm) Have a relief depth/polymer layer of .023" (0.58 mm) Have a base PET film thickness of .007" (0.18 mm) Have no " floor" polymer, plates are washed down to the PET layer Typically a hard plate, 62 Shore A, (ASTM) Polymer Layer PET Base Layer 37

Why Ultra Thin Plates Now? Flexo platemakers and printers are looking for technology/quality advancements Speed to press, up to color time, registration, print quality are at measured by higher standards Platemakers and even packaging buyers want to use eco-efficient technologies to reduce waste and carbon footprint Most wide web presses are fitted with sleeves, allowing for the necessary change in tooling 38

So What Are The Advantages Of Going Thin? 39

Weight Raw material has about ½ the weight 40% more plates per box = less packaging Less handling boxes, crates, skids Easier to carry sheets of material 40

Weight Finished plates have 1/3rd the weight Easier handling Lower shipping costs Example: 7 color job, 42x60" plates, shipped UPS Next Day from Chicago to Dallas: 0.067" plates cost $191.85 0.030" plates cost $138.70 Savings per shipment of $53.15 5 Shipments per week @ 50 weeks would be a savings of $13,288 Source: UPS.com June 1 2009 41

Productivity Comparison of a Single Plate Solvent Processed 0.067" Exposure – 10 min. Processing – 8 min. Drying – 120 min. Light Finishing – 10 min. Total – 148 min. Solvent Processed .030" Exposure – 8 min. Processing – 6 min. Drying – 30 min. Light Finishing – 6 min. Total – 50 min.

Even more flexible than .045" plates!

Reduced Cupping, Thanks To Being Thinner Cupping on solids happens more on thick plates Thinner plates cup less, print more even, require less impression

Print Quality In 1996, the FQC Program had leading suppliers and printers evaluate the optimum plate thickness for flexography in wide web printing. 45

Print Quality 46

Print Quality 2009: Equal or Better with .030" SID 1.1 SID 1.4

Print Quality: Conclusions As was concluded in the 1996 FQC Study, the 0.030" plates still print with less dot gain than 0.067“ plates. Medium to firm cushions tapes and sleeves are recommended for use with 0.030" plates. 48

Eco Efficiency Eco Efficiency was calculated from 0.045" and 0.067" plates with a degree of solvent recycling at 87.5% Data was not specially optimised for better processing conditions (exposure) for 0.030" plates GWP incl. plate, packaging and transport contribution is estimated to be 32% lower for 0.030" plates compared to 0.067" plates Energy consumption incl. plate, packaging and transport contribution is estimated to be 40% lower for 0.030" plates compared to 0.067" plates FG commissioned a third party to complete an EEA comparing solvent washed plates with thermal plates. The results of this study were presented last year. The main conclusions were the carbon foot print of the solvent washed plate was either smaller of equivalent to the thermal process depending on the blotting towel used in the thermal processor. Also, the solvent process provides approximately 13% savings. CO 2 emission are used to measure GWP

Eco Efficiency GWP of 0.030" plates (.76mm) versus 00.067" plates (1.70mm) extrapolated estimate 0.067" .030" 50

Eco Efficiency Energy of 0.030" plates (.76mm) versus 00.067" plates (1.70mm) extrapolated estimate 0.067" .030" 51

Summary of Benefits with 0.030" Plates Plates process about 60% FASTER than 0.067" plates Lighter weight can save thousands $$$ per year in shipping Flatter plates with less cupping = durability, fast up-to-color Less packaging due to more plates per box Perfect relief consistency, easier to process and print with Estimated 32% reduction in Global Warming Potential Estimated 40% reduction energy consumption Prints with less dot gain than 0.067" plates 52

Managing the Plate Making Waste Stream A new program in development at Flint Group

nyloflex® Sustainable Solutions Thinner Plates to reduce time, energy and material consumption by up to 40%. Let Flint show you how and provide the materials and tooling, along with a detailed transition plan Compressible sleeves to reduce the waste and cost of disposable cushion tapes. Improves run consistency while allowing for higher run speeds Plate room and pressroom audits, plus technique training to reduce production waste High efficiency process equipment. Use less chemistry, energy and time Recovery of plate packaging. Services available to recycle empty containers Recovery of used plates and distillation material. Services to remove plate materials and convert them into energy will be available soon Rotec compressible sleeves reusable compressibility, available in three cushion levels the foam layer is extremely durable and provide equivalent print quality when compared to tradition cushion tapes.

An offer to our Customers In our opinion the least that should be done with products after they have done their job in the Flexographic Process is to get part of the energy back that has been put into them during manufacturing Flint Group offers customized Solutions for a responsible way to handle Flexographic waste other than just land-fill " Waste to Energy" is one of the solutions that Flint will be offering to customers in a "removal and disposal" service Flint Group FP benefits from experiences with similar services that have been successfully offered to our ink customers over the years

nyloflex® Sustainable Solutions More information will be available soon!

Wrap Up Doing something different for your customer A new, softer plate for direct print corrugated that offers improved solid coverage, sharp and open reverses, and comparable dot gain to 32 durometer plates A harder plate that demonstrates sharp detail, low dot gain Thin plates to improve print quality, reduce waste, minimize environmental impact A proactive program to reduce the environmental footprint of plate making operations And now a closing photograph taken during a brain storming session during the development of the new corrugated products of our R&D director. Differentiate to thrive = offer something different to your customer. FSC = smooth solids And FHC = low dot gain

Thank You www.flintgrp.com