Member Article

Northumberland-based pre-press specialist celebrates 25 years in business

Reproflex3 Ltd, a Cramlington-based manufacturer providing high performance pre-press services to the global flexographic print community, is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its UK business.

From its headquarters on Nelson Park Industrial Estate, the company works with brand owners and flexographic print companies around the world to get leading FMCG flexible packaging products looking their best on shelf.

The company uses its expertise inside the pre-press process to supply tools and technologies that allow brand owners to access the benefits of flexographic print production over more expensive traditional methods, to create superior print quality, reduce operating costs and improve supply chain management.

During the past five years Reproflex3 has tripled its turnover and delivered into more than 20 countries worldwide. The company operates with a core team of 90 between its sites in the UK, United Arab Emirates, India and New Zealand, plus its operational partners world-wide.

“I am hugely proud to be celebrating this major milestone with our team, partners, clients and suppliers,” said Andrew Hewitson, co-founder.

“Reproflex3 has positioned itself as a company focused on innovation in the global flexographic industry, providing superior pre-press packaging services and products to our clients that relate to every touchpoint in the packaging development process, from design to final print production.

“Our journey has been far from straight forward. We operate in an industry that demands adaptability, vision and investment in solutions-orientated innovation to survive. We began positioning the business for global growth in 2015. We did this through capital investment of more than £1.2million in new sites, R&D in unique patented flexible print technologies, and building internal online workflows and processes within the business that are both agile and transportable.

“This strategy has enabled us to keep growing despite the challenges of Brexit and the global Coronavirus pandemic. In 25 years we’ve matured from a team of two into a truly global business, with more than 90 employees and key operational partners world-wide. I am extremely proud of the reputation we’ve built for bringing quality and value to every step of the flexographic process, which drives our clients, our business and the industry forward.”

The company was founded in 1996 by Andrew Hewitson and his business partner Trevor Lowes.

Today, Reproflex3 is a growing global business with sites in the UK, Middle East, Asia and New Zealand. It launched R3 NZ Limited in October this year following the acquisition of two sites in Christchurch and Auckland.

The deal was a move for the business to further strengthen its global presence and capitalise on increasing demand for high quality flexible packaging and sustainable pack design across the region.

Reproflex3 also delivers its unique pre-press technologies in the United States and mainland Europe through its global partnership network to service its clients 24/7 anywhere in the world.

The UK business began its 25th Anniversary year with a celebration event at its Cramlington HQ.

Trevor Lowes, co-founder, said: “Every member of the team has been instrumental in our journey, taking us from a small Repro House with big ambitions to a truly international, award winning business that is respected in the flexographic industry around the world. Success doesn’t happen overnight and achieving a business landmark like this makes our commitment and efforts all the more worthwhile.”

Andrew and Trevor are confident in their strategy to keep the momentum going. Planning for the future, they are focused on growth by building the company’s global partnership network and diversification, which they consider as crucial to maintaining success moving forward.

Trevor adds: “As passionate pre-press suppliers, we are one hundred percent focused on capturing the supply chain efficiencies that will help our customers to be even more successful. We are seeing tremendous growth in the use of flexo due to the diversity of the application in flexible packaging.

“This is driving demand for us to deliver the support networks for core applications and production tools, as well as manage the graphic added-value functions through award winning innovations like our VORTEX™, BlueEdge™ and ProjectBlue™ screening technologies.”

“We intend to concentrate on diversification and new investment in terms of recruitment, collaboration and expanding our tools and technology platforms in this new digital era,” explains Andrew.

“Our passion and expertise lies in pushing the boundaries of what flexo can achieve, we’ve come a long way in 25 years, and as we move into new markets I’m excited to see the impact we can make with our technologies and service.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Amy Maughan, Contributor .