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News Release from: Kodak Graphic Communications Group | Subject: Direct Non-Process Plates
Edited by the Printingtalk Editorial
Team on 15 January 2007
Non-Process Plates Provide Competitive
Advantage
Enniskillen commercial printer The Print Factory is reaping the benefits of switching to Kodak's Direct Non Process Plates nine months ago.
Enniskillen commercial printer The Print Factory is reaping the benefits of switching to Kodak's Direct Non-Process Plates nine months ago The 25-strong family-owned business was established in 1984 and services the printing needs of a range of local businesses, providing a full service from design to print
This article was originally published on Printingtalk on 1 Aug 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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General Manager at The Print Factory, Aidan Cosgrove, said: "We started looking at going process-less after Drupa 2004.
Having researched the available products in the market we found that Kodak Thermal Direct Plates were the only true non-process plates available at the time, as with every other product there was still some kind of chemistry required.
We had the programming of our existing platesetter adjusted and were up and running within a few days." Like many businesses of its kind, The Print Factory is experiencing increasing customer demand for faster turn-around and an increase in colour work.
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In order to satisfy those demands, the company brought everything in-house, including finishing.
That allows the company to take on a more diverse range of jobs, and turn them around a lot faster, said Kodak.
According to Kodak, using environmentally responsible equipment like non-process plates not only aids image quality and the perception of a printer like The Print Factory but investing in such systems also give them a competitive head start, whilst reducing further impact on the planet's eco-system and streamlining production efficiencies.
Cosgrove concluded: "For us it was a bit of a leap of faith at the time but the switch to thermal couldn't have been easier.
There is less material and, therefore, less cost, less storage requirements, less time for make-ready and in addition it's all extremely operator-friendly and easy to use.
I think we probably improved turn-around times by about five per cent and the whole process has become completely trouble free." Thermal Direct Non-Process Printing Plates are claimed to bring the resolution and imaging accuracy of thermal, digital plates without processing.
Kodak said that they also eliminate the installation, management or maintenance of the traditional wet-chemical plate processing system.
That eliminates cost, as well as a source of variability - the processor - and thus improves the overall stability of the digital platemaking process.
This year, Kodak is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the invention of thermal imaging technology.
Kodak added that the origins of the thermal CTP revolution began at Drupa 1995 when the company announced the first thermal CTP system, consisting of its Thermal 830 thermal plate and the former Creo Thermal 3244 Platesetter.
The system was the product of two inventors, Dr Neil Haley and Dan Gelbart, who continue to work for Kodak today.
Beta tests for thermal CTP began in late 1995 and the system was fully commercialised by mid-1996.
Over the next 10 years, thermal CTP evolved, becoming faster, more precise and requiring less floor space, further fueling adoption of the technology and causing it to spread from large printers to mid-size and small print providers.
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