Sun Chemical - Corporate

PRESS RELEASE Contact(s):
Chris Morrissey Sun Chemical Corporate Phone: +1 708-236-3533 chris.morrissey@na.sunchem.com	Rainer Buss Sun Chemical Europe Phone: +49 (0) 69 40 00-240 rainer.buss@eu.sunchem.com
John Kalkowski Sun Chemical N. American Inks Phone: +1 708-236-3686 john.kalkowski@na.sunchem.com
Plasto-Sac Will Install Comexi Press Designed to Use Sun Chemical's Wetflex™ Düsseldorf, Germany - May 06, 2004 -- Sun Chemical announces that Plasto-Sac, a growing packaging producer in the Middle East, is installing a Comexi™ wide-web CI flexographic press fitted with an ESI™ electron beam curing unit. The new equipment is designed to utilize Sun Chemical's patented WetFlex EC™ printing process and its UniQure™ inks. The 58-inch press can print, coat or laminate with EB curing in a single pass. Sun Chemical's revolutionary liquid ink system, introduced in the last year, allows the use of wet-trapping, energy curable inks on a central impression drum (CI) flexographic press. This can be done independently of color lay down sequence and without interstation drying or curing during production of multicolor printing jobs on non-absorbent substrates. The WetFlex process uses the UniQure ink system of energy curable inks, which cure instantaneously after the printed image is exposed to an electron beam installed in-line after the central impression cylinder. Until this technology was introduced, both dryers and overhead ovens had been required in order to dry flexo inks adequately. "This revolutionary process and ink system, which was introduced last year, continues to draw the interest of converters and press manufacturers around the world," said Mike McGovern, Sun Chemical Director of Sales for Energy Curable Inks and Coatings. "We continue to see significant interest in our WetFlex technology from major converters and press manufacturers, many of whom have come to our demonstration site to see how our technology works and that it is commercially viable." Late in 2003, Sun Chemical opened a WetFlex demonstration site at its Daniel J. Carlick Research Center in Carlstadt, N.J., utilizing a Ko-Pack™ narrow-web CID press and an EB curing unit from ESI. The WetFlex system offers many advantages, McGovern said. "This unique liquid ink system is designed to perform on a variety of substrates used in flexible packaging. UniQure inks will enhance productivity by requiring thinner ink films to achieve required densities and opacities. These inks also offer excellent printability in process printing and very fine highlight dots. In Carlstadt, we can demonstrate how WetFlex will produce sophisticated process print that allows converters to make full use of extended gamut systems." Added benefits are in-line lamination with EB adhesive or a "lamination look" with EB coating. With no solvents and no VOCs, UniQure inks are ideal for use in food packaging applications, he said, adding that these special formulations print with very little dot gain. They eliminate the capital and operating costs of drying, and the CID can be beneficial in controlling registration. Sun Chemical will display a video presentation on WetFlex and have printed samples available at drupa 2004 in PrintCity Hall 6, Booths A79 and B79. Please visit www.sunchemicalatdrupa.com for more information. About Sun Chemical Sun Chemical, the world's largest producer of printing inks and pigments, is a leading provider of materials to packaging, publication, coatings, plastics, cosmetics, and other industrial markets. With annual sales of more than $3 billion, Sun Chemical has over 12,500 employees supporting customers around the world. The Sun Chemical Group of companies includes such well-known names as Vivitek, Coates Lorilleux, Gibbon, Hartmann, Kohl & Madden, Swale, Usher-Walker and US Ink. In addition, Sun Chemical has many joint ventures, with the largest being its $1.5 billion Kodak Polychrome Graphics (KPG) joint venture with Eastman Kodak. KPG is a world leader in prepress products, services and equipment. Sun Chemical Corporation in the United States of America and Sun Chemical Limited in England are subsidiaries of Sun Chemical Group B.V., the Netherlands. Sun Chemical has headquarters in Fort Lee, New Jersey, U.S.A.; Watford, England; and Weesp, the Netherlands. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.sunchemical.com.