Artwork Systems Extends Artpro At LS Group

The latest investment in Artwork Systems equipment by the LS Group has taken the total number of seats of Artpro in use throughout the group to 17.

The latest investment in Artwork Systems equipment by the LS Group has taken the total number of seats of Artpro in use throughout the group to 17.

The recent spend at the Stockport (UK) company also includes the purchase of Nexusimport, Nexusprocessor and NexusRIP plus the new Dotspy soft proofing system.

"The NexusRIP can be used to create PDF files for proofing purposes and we can use the same data for outputting films or plates, with the knowledge that what is on the plate will accurately match the proof.

If the system continues to perform at its present level, we predict that the payback period for the entire investment could be less than 18 months," said Peter Jackson, group technical director.

When the company analysed the operators time spent tied up with basic processing tasks, it could see that the Nexus system had the potential to make it much more efficient.

The workflow accepts all of the file formats the company receives and automates a huge range of functions, freeing its repro operators to concentrate on more productive tasks.

LS Stockport has linked its NexusRIP to a Barco Megasetter, HP and Epson inkjet printers, a Dolev imagesetter and a dual digital Cromalin system.

In addition, the NexusRIP can also drive a CDi system for outputting flexo plates.

"This guarantee of accuracy is vital to us, particularly when you take into account the volume of digital data, films and plates which we send to printers around Europe.

We need to be certain that what is output and printed is correct in every element," added Jackson.

The LS Group has five sites throughout the UK and is a major supplier of pre-press services to printers operating in the sectors of litho, flexo, gravure and screen.

Much of the work produced is for the packaging and point of sale markets.

Around 90 per cent of all the work received by the group is handled by Artpro, which provides a wide range of automated functions from trapping to step and repeat.

The next stage for the Stockport site is to integrate Nexus with a recently installed MIS system in order to provide real-time management information on jobs.

"We've been a fan of Artpro for many years and it was a logical step for us to install the Artwork Systems Nexus workflow package to improve productivity in our pre-press department.

The Nexus systems were integrated into our existing workflow seamlessly.

Artwork Systems did an excellent job in tailoring Nexus to suit all our requirements.

We now have greater flexibility in the way in which we handle and process work," commented Jackson.

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