Students, faculty, and researchers at Clemson’s Sonoco Institute of Packaging Design and Graphics now have the latest digital platemaking technology right at their fingertips thanks to a recent addition of Asahi Photoproducts equipment. Asahi installed its new AWP 230W water-washable plate processor and AFP 912 exposure/drying/light finisher unit at the South Carolina institution.

The AWP 230W processor is designed specifically to process water-washable plates from Asahi. Using only a detergent and water mixture to process plates, the unit eliminates the need for solvents and the release of VOCs during the flexographic platemaking process. The AWP platemaking process (back exposure, digital imaging, face exposure, wash-out, drying, and light finishing) takes less than an hour to complete. The wash solution in this VOC-free process produces plates which are at gauge immediately after the processing.

Several members of the Asahi Photoproducts team are no stranger to Clemson’s Graphic Communications program. Currently, three Clemson alumni work out of Asahi’s newly opened Atlanta, Ga., office, including David Chinnis (1985), Michael Amosu (2006), and Catherine Whitaker (2007). n

Asahi Kasei America Photoproducts Division
877-344-1223;www.asahi-afp.com