What gravure printers need to know about ChromeNEO

As we continue onboarding customers to ChromeNEO—the future alternative to chrome plating and our life insurance for the gravure business beyond 2032, one question keeps coming up:

Can we chrome plate laser engraved cylinders with ChromeNEO?

It’s a valid question, and I want to clarify. Right now, we’re not chrome-plating laser-engraved cylinders.

Why?

The first thing we need to do is ensure that this new chrome plating technology is fully established, robust, and efficient for electromechanical engraving.

Here’s an important point: around 90% of all gravure cylinders globally are electromechanically engraved.

Even at 4Packaging GmbH, 70% of the cylinders we produce still follow this method.

Since this represents the majority, our priority is first mastering chrome plating for electromechanical engraving.

Introducing laser engraving now wouldn’t be an issue technically, but it would reduce our focus on perfecting the current process.

Once we’ve optimized ChromeNEO for electromechanical engraving, we should consider optimizing it for laser-engraved cylinders.

So, when will that be? I can’t say for sure—it could be next year, or it might take until 2026.

Until then, we’re keeping things simple—focusing on electromechanical engraving and ensuring every customer experiences the benefits of this new plating technology.

It’s all about reliability and longevity, and we want to ensure that our customers can rely on it just as much as they do with conventional chrome

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Which Is Better For “Short Runs”? Gravure or Flexo?