CTP Eliminates Outsourcing And Reduces Overheads

Presstek has installed a Dimension 425 Excel CTP system at Vision Print in County Dublin.

Presstek has installed a Dimension 425 Excel CTP system at Vision Print in County Dublin.

The strategic investment has enabled the commercial printer to use its CTP chemistry-free plate technology to deliver fast turn-around on jobs that were previously outsourced.

The installation was handled by Presstek distributor Andrews Graphics.

Jack Caverly, the joint director at Vision Print, explained the motivating factors for his firm's move to CTP: "Our decision to invest in the Presstek chemistry-free CTP was three-fold - to develop a clean and efficient operation, to take complete control of our business in-house and to reduce the costs of overhead and out-sourcing.

We needed to take control over the pre-press side of our business." Vision Print was out-sourcing plate supply to feed its Komori Lithrone four-colour press and could not fully guarantee fast turn-around times.

In addition, the firm was located on two different sites.

Since the installation of the Dimension 425 Excel, Vision Print has benefited from increased efficiency and an environmentally compatible imaging operation.

One facility has been sold and all equipment is now consolidated at a larger of the two sites.

Time savings, coupled with dot quality, have impressed even the most demanding perfectionists at Vision Print.

Caverly added: "Everything that goes out of the door at Vision Print is inspected and passed by the directors, and there are three of us - Michael McGarry, Ken Maher and myself.

We are perfectionists when it comes down to it." As an example, Vision Print produces the covers for a very popular monthly lifestyle magazine in Ireland called Image.

The cover is printed on 200gsm in four-colour.

Facial tones and the shades of colour on designer clothing used to be a real problem.

"We had to produce these results on film and it was very time consuming.

With the Dimension Excel CTP system we are now imaging plates which can hold a sharp dot 100 per cent," said Caverly.

According to Caverly, the Dimension 425 Excel has also made a dramatic difference in print quality and he continued: "The plate holds the dot on the press perfectly.

It is my opinion - not forgetting the environmental issues - that chemistry-free plate technology is superior to violet when it comes to quality." Vision Print was motivated by positive comments from other printers about chemistry-free CTP and by a concern for environmental safety in the daily life of its staff.

Previously, the company had a yard full of chemicals and developer and now it has a clean and safe site.

Staff is loyal they deserved the best the company could offer and the investment in chemistry-free CTP is for the benefit of all, he added.

Quen Baum, managing director of Presstek Europe commented: "Presstek is a well known name in Ireland.

With increasing numbers of printers moving to CTP systems, our chemistry-free plate technology is proving more and more attractive as the environmental choice.

We are a world leader in chemistry-free technology and Irish printers are recognising our systems as the obvious preference." Jack Caverly said the Dimension 425 Excel system is already producing customer-pleasing results: "Since the recent installation of the Dimension 425 Excel we have had a design firm call up who needed a job done really quickly.

We worked over the weekend and monitored the quality carefully, as we knew it was a key project for the company.

When we invoiced the client, there was an added bonus for superior quality and customer service.

For us, that's what its all about, pride in our work." He concluded that Vision Print has achieved its investment objective: "We've gained high quality results in a timely manner with the Presstek Dimension Excel CTP system and are really delighted with our choice." Since Vision Print was founded in the late 1980s it has achieved a reputation for quality and customer service.

Typical clients are banks and insurance companies that require a high standard of production and accuracy.

Other customers include designers, agencies and publishers that need high quality full colour printing on a variety of stocks.

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