Established over 40 years ago, the company is a major player in the corrugated market, with five offices in Italy, a presence in Poland, and a total workforce of over 90. Of these, a significant proportion work in the highly-experienced technical department that does much of the problem-solving for Z Due鈥檚 clients. 鈥淓very job begins its life in the technical department,鈥� says Mingozzi. 鈥淚t鈥檚 where we identify potential issues and work out how to overcome them. And the department stays involved throughout the job, attending press start-ups if necessary, and organizing training for customers鈥� own people.鈥�
Z Due makes a success of solving problems
Z Due's Andrea Mingozzi talks problem-solving, keeping customers' needs front of mind and the unmatched capacity of flexo.
Ask most successful business owners to describe their winning formula in a few words, and they鈥檒l struggle. Not so Andrea Mingozzi, co-owner with brother Lorenzo of Modena-based prepress company Z Due. His reply is short and to the point: 鈥淲e鈥檙e a problem-solving business. It鈥檚 as simple as that.鈥�
Z Due are very good at it, too, if its success at this year鈥檚 Global Flexo Innovation Awards is anything to go by. As well as winning a Gold Award, Z Due was also recognised in the Highest Honors category, with the judges selecting no less than eight of its entries. All eight involved flexo printing onto corrugated cardboard, and all were previously printed offset.
Another 20 or so staff work in Z Due鈥檚 graphic department. 鈥淲e鈥檙e prepress specialists, not designers,鈥� says Mingozzi, 鈥渂ut on many jobs you have to understand the design elements in order to arrive at the right solution. So our graphics people will be involved in matters such as color selection, choice of screening and deciding which plates to use.鈥�
鈥淒ifferent plants have different machines, of all ages and degrees of efficiency. With each job, we have to optimize image quality and workflow to get the best out of the equipment.鈥�
All of this explains the multitude of print samples that visitors to Z Due鈥檚 Modena headquarters typically encounter, produced for a customer list that includes numerous leading Italian packaging printers, among them Antonio Sada & Figli, Ondulkart, International Paper Italia, Smurfit Kappa Italia and Toppazzini.
Working with such a variety of clients poses particular challenges for Z Due, as Mingozzi explains. 鈥淎s you can imagine, different plants have different machines, of all ages and degrees of efficiency. With each job, we have to optimize image quality and workflow to get the best out of the equipment.鈥�
An easier life
For Z Due and its customers, life has become a lot easier since the Kodak Flexcel NX system arrived in 2018, part of a major investment programme designed to anticipate, and meet, changing market conditions. 鈥淲e stay close to our customers,鈥� says Mingozzi, 鈥渁nd we hear the same message from all of them 鈥� in today鈥檚 supply chain, they need to control costs, offer faster time-to-market, handle shorter runs and print sustainably, all without sacrificing quality.
鈥淟ike everyone in the business, we鈥檝e been watching closely what鈥檚 been happening in flexo over the last few years, and there鈥檚 no doubt that today the process can not only match offset and gravure for quality but also has the edge in key areas. Not only are its sustainability credentials strong 鈥� start-ups are faster, so there鈥檚 less wastage of substrate and ink 鈥� but the cost-savings are very attractive. For example, with Flexcel NX we can produce quality print even on lower-weight stocks 鈥� which is important given rising paper costs.鈥�
He also describes Flexcel NX as 鈥渕ore forgiving, with an unmatched capacity to control ink transfer, even printing rougher or uncoated stocks. These things really matter when our printer customers have a variety of presses, but such is the stability and cleanliness of Flexcel NX that modifications to the press set-up are minimal. Usually the third or fourth sheet off the press is good, and so far we鈥檝e never had to stop the press for washing.鈥�
“Not only are flexo’s sustainability credentials strong 鈥� start-ups are faster, so there鈥檚 less wastage of substrate and ink 鈥� but the cost-savings are very attractive.”
Flexcel NX has also streamlined production on a number of jobs, as one of the award-winning entries shows. This was previously printed offset and involved multiple processes 鈥� printing, lamination, die-cutting and gluing. The Z Due solution printed directly at up to 8,000 boxes an hour, resulting in faster delivery, lower costs, fewer plates, faster set-up and lower ink consumption.
Asked what future plans the company has, Mingozzi says Z Due has its eyes on the higher-volume market, and on expanding into flexible packaging. 鈥淎nywhere there are problems to solve, we plan to be there.鈥�