CTP Gives Council Print Shop Commercial Edge

Falkirk Council is now able to produce at least 80 per cent of its printed material in-house following the installation of a chemistry-free Dimension225 Excel computer-to-plate (CTP) system.

Falkirk Council is now able to produce at least 80 per cent of its printed material in-house following the installation of a chemistry-free Dimension225 Excel computer-to-plate (CTP) system by Presstek.

The CTP system joins a Ryobi 522 HX offset press already installed as part of the council's upgrading programme, to enable the litho and digital operations at the council's print work department to compete with outside commercial printers.

Turnover has increased by GBP100,000, from April to November 2005, compared with the previous year and with the latest investment, savings are being planned that will be returned to the council's services department.

"In the past, we weren't equipped to handle four colour work in-house.

With the growth in four colour requirements within the council, we know that we can win back a lot more business," said the council's John Watt.

The Presstek Dimension225 Excel platesetter with Presstek's Profire Excel imaging technology, produces up to 11 plates an hour at up to 300 dots per inch (dpi).

after a decision was made was given the task to look at what was needed and to evaluate what was available prior to tender.

"The Council had not foreseen the opportunities of four colour when they leased new equipment in the late nineties.

Consequently, our work was mainly limited to business stationery and internal forms and we were unable to compete for publicity and marketing material.

We weren't able to progress in to process work until we traded out one of the two colour litho presses for a four colour B3 machine," said Watt.

"It made sense to automate our plate production so that we could capitalise on the productivity and the quality of the new press," he added.

Watt spent three months evaluating the different systems before going to tender.

The council is always keen to invest in ergonomically friendly equipment and that is where the Dimension scored because it uses chemistry-free Anthem plates.

Watt commented: "As the Dimension uses no chemicals, there are no problems or costs associated with their disposal.

We simply rinse the plates in a separate washer unit.

It has halved our production time from RIP to press.

The quality is infinitely better and we don't have to spend time spot cleaning the plates.

The other advantage of the Dimension is its very small footprint, which is useful when space is at a premium." And he concluded: "We were confident that Presstek would give us the back-up we required to move to the new technology.

We already had built up a good relationship with Presstek because we already have one of their small offset presses.

They were true to their word and within three days of the on-site training, we were in full production.

It has given us a lot more flexibility because our printers are also able to process plates with minimal training.".

Back to top