UFlex unveils Ceruflex 500 gravure printing machine at PlastIndia

This machine has been developed through a collaboration between Gravtech Srl, Italy, and UFlex. Gravtech designed a completely new and innovative rotogravure model, while UFlex built the machine by leveraging its engineering expertise and deep market understanding. Gravtech also drew upon the expertise of Dr Giancarlo Cerutti and a technical team of mechanical and electronic engineers with long-standing and proven experience in the sector. This close collaboration between Italian design excellence and UFlex’s manufacturing capabilities offers the printing market a product that is better suited to the increasingly demanding needs of end users.

Ceruflex 500 delivers printing speeds of up to 500-m/min. It features a shaftless cylinder system with chucking and a furnishing roller, ensuring accurate ink application and high print quality. The machine is equipped with a trolley-based system for faster job changeovers, allowing flexible swapping of printing cylinders and inking systems, along with semi-automatic operations that reduce downtime and free operators for critical tasks such as doctor blade setting and colour matching.

Ceruflex 500 also offers automatic register alignment, advanced servo mechanisms for repeatability, and an intelligent inking system capable of handling a wide range of ink and solvent combinations without compromising speed or consistency, making it suitable for both short and long production runs.

Designed with sustainability at its core, the Ceruflex 500 incorporates high-performance drying hoods to reduce thermal energy consumption, integrated viscosity control with cooling to minimise ink and solvent usage, and remote monitoring capabilities via mobile and tablet devices.

A spokesperson from UFlex said, “This innovation represents a significant milestone in UFlex’s engineering journey and underscores our long-term vision of building an intelligent, future-ready manufacturing ecosystem for the packaging industry. As converters face increasing pressure to deliver higher productivity, consistent quality, and lower environmental impact, we believe innovation must go beyond incremental improvements. This new machine has been developed by combining deep process expertise with advanced automation and smart controls, enabling customers to drive operational excellence, reduce waste, and align manufacturing performance with evolving sustainability and energy-efficiency expectations.”

“Our goal is to design a completely new rotogravure press capable of eliminating traditional bottlenecks in gravure printing,” added Dr Giancarlo Cerutti, an industry veteran. “Its trolley system, auto-register, and smart inking deliver unmatched flexibility and waste reduction, making high-speed printing more accessible and sustainable for flexible packaging leaders worldwide.”

UFlex has an exclusive licence from Gravtech to build and sell this machine model, Ceruflex 500, in India and other countries across the world, as per the agreements defined between the two companies.