Reproflex3, today the most acclaimed company in its sector within the UK, has been providing brands with its flexographic solutions for over 25 years, leveraging its combination of vast technical-print experience and the latest digital technologies.
“We engineer or re-engineer packaging digital artwork colour separations into an optimised configuration that delivers the highest quality print whilst having a significant positive impact on our client’s bottom line through production efficiencies,” says Group CEO Andrew Hewitson, describing the core business. “We do this inside the flexographic printing process, a process which is growing and is predicted to continue to do so for many years to come.”
Andrew has been working in the industry since he left school at 16, when he joined a local pre-press company that has moved to become part of the largest print company in the world. That experience clearly shaped his future – in 1996 he and business partner Trevor Lowes, both time-served pre-press professionals, founded the company with a single agenda: to manufacture the best printing plate in the world.
“I still have a lot of passion about delivering the highest possible quality and researching and developing the technologies that you can’t buy off the shelf and including a little bit of our magic. By doing that, we have proven to customers that we can make a difference inside their business.”
He explains that the company’s strategy has been to work closely with its clients, understanding their problems and challenges and coming up with solutions. While this approach has not changed over the years, what has changed is the size of the company – Reproflex3 now has a global footprint with head offices based in the UK, UAE, India, and New Zealand, leveraging the experience and know-how of the advanced UK market.
“We are able to interact inside the market at higher levels in regions where the knowledge is not as developed,” says Andrew, adding that the differentiator is, first and foremost, the inherent knowledge of how the process works. “The second thing is communication and the level of service. We work closely with our customers with an onsite presence and support so that they get the very best out of our tools.”
Improved environmental footprint
Reproflex3 provides a large variety of products, with its customer base including major brands such as Mars, Unilever, and others. Its multi-awarded VORTEX solution, a revolutionary corrugated screening technology, is a game changer for printing presses – it enhances print quality, reduces dot gain, and optimises ink coverage, resulting in vivid and consistent packaging designs where small runs as well as larger volumes of production can be equally catered for. “The solution delivers a significant amount of value for our client partners, including cost efficiency and sustainability benefits.”
“Sustainability is a leading market trend and our solutions can make a huge impact on our customers’ sustainability targets – we are responsible for producing the first physical image of the packaging. If we get it right, the printer has a chance to run his press faster, with less energy, with less manpower, and at lower cost. Get it wrong and everything becomes less efficient. At the same time, we can put high-definition screening in the process so the image clarity and, obviously, the quality of the image, the definition improves. There are all sorts of little tricks that we can apply.”
He further reflects that Reproflex3 positions itself as a ‘hero helper’. “The market is like a Hollywood blockbuster. Everyone wants to be the hero, but the reality is that it has to be the customer. Everything that we do, every conversation that we have with our customers, is about elevating their position, as opposed to ours. That applies to sustainability as well – everything we do is about how we can achieve improvements for our customers.”
Expanded capability
As a ‘hero helper’ the company has been progressively growing both in the UK and abroad. In recent years it has established exclusive technical partnerships with like-minded, independent pre-press outfits Z Due, based in Italy and Pacificolor, which serves the North American market, making Reproflex3 print technologies accessible to local brands and providing greater synergy for global brands.
During the pandemic, Reproflex3 also completed an acquisition in New Zealand, and to strengthen its European business, in August the company announced the acquisition of ANF Ltd, which is set to support Reproflex3’s expansion inside the European corrugated packaging sector by increasing its production capabilities as well as growing its presence in the pharmaceutical sector.
“ANF’s capabilities are similar to us but they perform in different markets, so this will be a nice addition to our business. On the other hand, we can provide them with more exposure worldwide. By adding ANF’s capabilities and pre-press plate technologies to our portfolio of businesses, we can provide customers with an even higher level of service and expertise as we combine the assets and strengths of both businesses.”
One challenge that Reproflex3 is facing is that of scaling up. “The word is out that Reproflex3 can make a difference to the clients’ bottom line. Clients big and small are engaging with us and whilst this is a great position to be in, we are determined to maintain our DNA, to be a service provider. To ensure our clients have the full support and integration that delivers a significant upside by working with R3 Global.”
The right business model
“We are identifying many processes and positions that need upgrading for the journey ahead. Then we need to recruit the right people to drive the business forward. At the moment, we have a great team, they are performing really well through this transition, and they give a lot of positive energy that is reflected in the business.”
Speaking about general market developments, he notes that commercial sustainability is a topic that a lot of companies will have to address, as substantial realignment is expected in the market. Still, he believes Reproflex3 has the right business model and to do the right thing at the right time has been built into the company’s DNA from the beginning.
“Reproflex3 has a great outlook in terms of what we can achieve in the next three to five years. We have always grown when the challenges have been there. The flexographic market is probably one of the fastest growing packaging markets and that drives us too. I cannot really see how our growth acceleration will slow. Quite the contrary – more acquisitions will follow, since we plan to triple our turnover over the next 3 to 5 years.”
