MarkEting stratEgiEs & Hr dEvElopMEnt

MarkEting stratEgiEs & Hr dEvElopMEnt BY asaHi pHotoproducts

ASAHI PHOTOPRODUCTS AND ESKO JOIN FORCES TO THE BENEFIT OF THE CHINESE MARKET ON FLEXO PLATEMAKING IN HARMONY WITH THE ENVIROMENT

During All-in-Print China, Asahi Photoproducts and Esko celebrated the latest advance in their long-term partnership, signing an agreement to place Esko equipment in Asahi’s Shanghai Technical Center. Pictured here, from left to right: Michael Zhang [Esko], Bao Wei [Esko], Yuji Suzuki [Asahi], Rocky Zhou [Esko], Bill Liu [Asahi], Jason Leng [Esko]

Market-leading Esko plate imaging solutions to be installed in Asahi Technical Center in China

Asahi Photoproducts, a pioneer in flexographic photopolymer plate development, today reported it extended its relationship with Esko through an agreement to install Esko plate imaging solutions in the Asahi Tech Center in Suzhou, near Shanghai. The agreement, which was entered into during All-in-Print China, will result in the installation of an Esko CDI Spark 4260 and an XPS Crystal 5080 in the Center.

These industry-leading plate imaging solutions are supported by an Asahi AWP 230W plate processor using Asahi AWPTM CleanPrint water-washable plates to complete the industry’s most balanced flexographic platemaking solution in harmony with the environment, delivering the highest possible quality for China’s demanding flexo customers.

“Asahi Photoproducts has worked together with Esko in China for a decade and this agreement takes the relationship to a new level in our ability to serve the rapidly evolving flexographic market in China,” said Yuji Suzuki, Asahi’s Senior Manager of Customer Technical Service.

Suzuki points out that high-end print quality is increasingly required in China, and many repro houses in the region still have difficulty making plates that deliver the best print quality. “One thing we will be doing in our Tech Center with the new equipment,” he says, “is creating test plates for potential customers so they can see for themselves that we can deliver the quality they need. We will also use the facility to do training and seminars for customers and potential customers.”

Esko will also have access to the Tech Center, offering the possibility to Asahi’s customers to learn more about how the Esko plate imaging system functions with Asahi’s AWPTM CleanPrint water-washable plates. “We are pleased to continue to grow our partnership with Asahi, especially in the highly competitive Chinese market,” said Rocky Zhou, General Manager for Esko in Shanghai. “The solutions being installed at the Asahi Tech Center will benefit both of our businesses as we work to continue to bring the latest state-of-the-art flexographic solutions to this region”.

About Asahi CleanPrint Technology

CleanPrint flexographic plates from Asahi Photoproducts have been specifically engineered by Asahi’s chemical engineers to transfer all remaining ink to the printed substrate, reducing makeready time and press cleaning stops as compared to other platemaking systems while delivering exceptional quality. AWPTM Clean Print water-washable plates emit fewer VOCs in prepress as they don´t use solvents in the washout process. Studies show that CleanPrint water-washable plates have the smallest cradle-to-grave carbon footprint when compared to solvent or thermal solutions. Less makeready waste and waste due to plate cleaning press stops brings the process even more in balance with the environment. And more efficient throughput means less energy consumption.

“In the Tech Center implementation,” Suzuki added, “we will also be working with a third party solution that completely eliminates wastewater from plate processing, separating out solids in a cake form that can be easily disposed of or incinerated, and capturing potable water. This will add even further to accelerate our AWPTM promotion into the Chines market.

For more information about flexographic solutions from Asahi Photoproducts that are in harmony with the environment, visit www.asahi-photoproducts.com.

industrY association BY nEctEc logonational ElEctronics and coMputEr tEcHnologY cEntEr (nEctEc)

The first 40 Smart Temperature Measurement “μTherm FaceSense” is ready to launch!

With the emerging of COVID-19 outbreak, Thai people take notice of their body temperature as it is one of the measurable factors for the COVID-19 and other virus infections i.e. Influenza, Acute Respiratory Disease, Encephalitis, Malaria, and Dengue Fever, etc.

Measuring body temperature before entering any building, especially in the most crowded areas, has become the first precautionary procedure. Infrared thermometers are cost-effective devices that are widely used, but its drawback is an inability to detect several people simultaneously and perform wide-range scanning. Thermal imaging cameras are also employed in the airport or department stores. Though they have better detection throughput, they are more expensive. This has prompted Thai researchers to develop a new affordable temperature measurement system. Unlike other commercial systems, this system can identify temperatures of multiple persons at the same time and can store important data from suspects. The idea behind this useful feature is utilizing additional information from a typical, off-the-shelf camera that provides color images, and applying an accurate face detection algorithm on there. This system can identify temperatures of up to 9 persons within only 0.1 seconds (within 1.5-meter range). Additionally, it supports IoT computing and data storage.

μTherm FaceSense: A Smart Temperature Measurement System

“μTherm FaceSense” is a multi-people temperature screening system utilizing IoT computing and data storage. Its portability and integration to IoT computing technology are major improvements over its old version. It is now supported by the Office of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (OBTC).

Dr.Saran Samritdetkajorn, Acting Deputy Executive Director of NECTEC said, “μTherm FaceSense” is based on the former IP of the researcher including the noninvasive automatic temperature measurement system. This system further links collected data to an IoT computing system, and enables accurate temperature measurements of several persons simultaneously. μTherm FaceSense has a maximum screening range of 1.5 meters and has a screening time only within 0.1 seconds. The measured temperature will be overlaid over a person’s face on the screen. If the temperature exceeds the pre-specified threshold, its color will change from green to red with a warning sound. Furthermore, μTherm FaceSense provides flexibility to configure relevant parameters such as offset temperature, variations of measurement range (already patented by PHT, NECTEC). These allow undesirable effects, such as ambient temperature, humidity, and range, to be minimized as much as possible. Dr. Chalee Vorakulpiphat, a head researcher of the Information Security Research Team (SEC), explained that the face detection algorithm his team developed is able to accurately identify multiple persons in the same scene. This ensures that the system collects temperature measurements at regions of interest that actually correspond to human faces. Such non-contact procedure helps reduce the risk of exposure from staff to screening recipients, and vice versa.

“In the past, our team developed full-face detection, but since COVID-19 pandemic has spreaded out, people need to wear a mask. Therefore, we develop a new technique that can identify faces even covered by masks. Meanwhile, this technique could be further developed in the contexts of security and safety in the

future.” said Dr. Charlie. Mr. Armote Somboonkaew, a researcher from the Photonics Technology Research Team (PHT) and who is a project leader of µTherm-FaceSense system, said that µTherm-FaceSense system is easy to install. Once the system is connected to the external display via an HDMI cable, it is up and running. In addition, NECTEC researchers have designed a software to analyze and store the data within the internal system. Moreover, the software can access and transfer the analyzed data through the internet, via a 3G/4G or a Wi-Fi connection.

Author | Walailak Kongprajan English Translator | Siri-on Umarin, Rungroj Jintamethasawat, Ph.D Photographer | Kornrawee Kaewmoon, Sasiwipar Hasuk

Source : https://www.nectec.or.th/en/innovation/product-innova tion/mutherm-facesense.html