PRESS RELEASE

Chris Morrissey
Sun Chemical
Phone: 708-236-3533
chris.morrissey@na.sunchem.com

SunGraphics Opens State-of-the-Art Facility For Package Design and Flexo Plate Manufacturing In Antioch, CA

Fort Lee, NJ - March 06, 2003 -- SunGraphics, a prepress trade service for paper packaging, has announced the opening of its new graphic design center and flexo plate manufacturing facility in Antioch, California. SunGraphics is a member of the Sun Chemical Corporation, a $3 billion specialty chemicals company and the world's leading manufacturer of printing inks and organic pigments.

The state-of-the-art facility provides package design and finished flexographic printing plates used in production of paper packaging such as corrugated boxes, folding cartons and retail point-of-purchase displays. It has been positioned in the Bay Area to provide services to consumer goods companies and packaging converters in California and other Western states, said Dave Garnache, SunGraphics business manager. SunGraphics has its headquarters and another manufacturing facility in Maumee, Ohio.

At the heart of the Antioch facility is the West Coast's largest imagesetter, capable of providing one-piece films up to 96.5 x 63.5 inches. "When used in conjunction with our large-format DuPont Cyrel platemaking system, the new Esko GIGASETTER and Kodak Polychrome Graphics films and processors will allow SunGraphics to produce a single set of films to make flexo plates for printing of large boxes used for computers, electronics and other industrial markets," Garnache said. Kodak Polychrome Graphics, one of the the world's largest printing plate and film suppliers with $1.5 billion in sales, is 50% owned by Sun Chemical. In addition, SunGraphics also can produce film sets in line-screen halftone or the emerging stochastic screens for other applications requiring extra large formats, such as process-color offset or wide-web flexible package printing.

He pointed out that SunGraphics has embraced the digital workflow so important to providing the quality, speed and efficiency required by the Graphic Arts industry. "We know companies use a variety of software systems in preparation of their graphics, so we are prepared to handle virtually any format they might require to produce consistent images," he said.

"The SunGraphics design and manufacturing team can help consumer goods companies translate their ideas into effective packaging that sells product and builds brands," Garnache said. "We place a special emphasis on determining customer requirements, providing fast turnaround, and then making accurate flexo plates that assure consistency of quality when used at multiple printing locations."