Flexa has 30-year-long experience in designing, and manufacturing solutions in Large Format Digital Printing Finishing. With more than 200 product ranges, Flexa is a reliable partner engaged in the visual communication industry and the industrial sector with customized applications. The company brand’s vitality, characterized by constant launches of new products on the market, is capable of improving and advancing the digital printing industry in terms of quality, volume, and productivity.
Interview with Elisa Stival, Communications Manager at Flexa.
Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
Elisa Stival: Flexa offers not only a product but a solution for those looking for customized systems to improve the productivity and efficiency of their work thanks to automation and workflows. Solutions range from laminating to cutting sheets and/or rolls for the digital printing sector. The flexibility, inherent in the company’s brand, made it possible to design and create Custom Machines, tailor-made to customer specifications, for the most diverse sectors: the converting industry, etched foils, furniture handles, glass, furniture, and much more.
E.E: What’s the news about new products?
E.S: We are extremely satisfied with the new Flexa Easy Lite Wi-Fi laminator, awarded the innovative product 2022 in the USA (Pinnacle Award 2022). It is among the first laminators on the market to have an internet connection via Wi-Fi/LAN, thus entering the era of IoT (Internet of Things), to make it more evolved and intelligent. Thanks to dedicated software, the user can verify all the data related to lamination in real-time. It can monitor and optimize the finishing process, guaranteeing quality and savings.
Designed and built in Italy, the MIURA automatic cutter, which cuts rolls to sheets, is a product that is perfectly in line with the current digital transformation. It connects to the internet network facilitating the transmission and analysis of data, as well as remote monitoring and control of cutting production processes, integrating printing systems, optimizing energy consumption, and reducing maintenance time.
E.E: What are the ranges of products?
E.S: We have divided into 8 different categories Flexa’s range of products.
The main categories are Lamination, cutting, slitting, and Custom.
Laminators: A wide range of laminators applies lamination film on media for visual communication in order to protect the images for long periods. Available single-hot or dual-hot laminators or heat-assisted top roller laminators for medium and smaller users.
Cut: A wide range of automatic XY cutters, electrical trimmers, and tabletop cutters for flexible media and wallpaper.
Roll-slitters: Roll slitters for a small production or for the industry that answer to the most different applications in the visual communication field and industry.
Custom: Special customized machines for the converting industry, the mechanical industry, the glass and furniture industry, and many more.
E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active?
E.S: The large-format Digital printing market is growing by about 4% (forecast source Infotrends). Visual communications that include billboards and banners have the major volumes.
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
E.S: The market trend is wallcovering, which is thriving at this moment, follows by Soft signage and textile, and window graphics. The important themes nowadays are sustainability and digitalization in all industries. Sustainable print production is well underway!
E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?
E.S: Flexa is an example of how an SME (small-medium enterprise), with thirty years of history, successfully faces the challenge of the digital transition, with the ability to innovate and adapt to market needs. The road to digital transition is therefore well underway, with more than 60% of Flexa machines already 4.0-ready.
E.E: What estimations do you have for 2023?
E.S: We forecast a great 2023, not as well as the last one, but surely with a growing number! This year we will also present our revised portfolio of laminators with the launch of the new Easy Plus laminator. We are in continuous development, we are preparing for the Drupa show next year, where we will present a cutting solution, the market has been waiting for.
