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News Release from: Presstek Inc | Subject: Presstek Vector TX52
Edited by the Printingtalk Editorial
Team on 10 November 2006
First In-Plant To Install Presstek
Platesetter
Guildford Borough Council in the UK is the first local government in-plant department to install a Presstek Vector TX52 platesetter.
Guildford Borough Council in the UK is the first local government in-plant department to install a Presstek Vector TX52 platesetter Mike Cheshire, printing services manager at Guildford Borough Council, said: "We have been fortunate because, unlike many other local authorities that have closed their inplant departments and outsourced their printing requirements, Guildford Borough Council has done the opposite
This article was originally published on Printingtalk on 1 Feb 2006 at 8.00am (UK)
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Over the last five years the council has invested in the litho, digital copying and finishing side of the print room.
Four years ago Presstek installed a DPM 2508 polyester platesetter, which we have replaced with the Vector TX52 as a natural progression." He explained: "We were more than happy with the performance of the DPM 2508 but we wanted to increase our ability to produce full colour printing.
We were outsourcing very close register process jobs and items like ballot papers and pre-printed electoral forms, where space and measurements are extremely critical.
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We probably could have done these in-house but we weren't quite prepared to take the risk." He said that the 90,000 electoral forms are pre-printed using a litho press after which the variable data is printed on them using the council's Ricoh digital copier.
The forms have to be completed by the public and the spaces between the columns are quite tight and at the same time there is no margin for error if the fit is not exact because the completed forms are scanned.
Cheshire continued: "Although we could handle the monochrome jobs perfectly well, I knew that we needed better quality plates if we were to produce full colour printing in-house.
Consequently, I went to Ipex 2006 to see what was available.
The Presstek Vector TX52 came out top on environmental grounds and for its quality, improved productivity and small footprint." One of the major factors that influenced Cheshire's decision was the Vector TX52's chemistry-free process.
Cheshire added: "We have been asked to be as green as we possibly can and that's one of the great benefits of the Vector TX52.
It has a built-in plate washer, which washes the Freedom plates with water.
At a stroke it removes the cost and the environmental issues associated with the buying and disposing of chemicals and polyester plates, which don't break down in landfill sites.
It's a cleaner and healthier process for our staff to handle and we can recycle and recover some of the outlay from reselling the scrap aluminium plates." The new system takes up approximately three-quarters of the space of the DPM 2508 because it is front loading.
The register multi-punch sits conveniently at the side of the machine, all of which makes for a relatively small footprint, commented Presstek.
And Cheshire commented further: "I am exceedingly proud of the quality of the four colour jobs we can now print, particularly bearing in mind that currently we only have a 16-year-old single colour Heidelberg GTO press, although a two-colour press is planned.
The stability and the improved performance on press are entirely due to the superb quality of the Freedom plates with their dot-for-dot registration.
I would even go as far as saying that they are sensational.
We find that the Freedom plates are more ink receptive than polyester plates and the make-ready on press is faster, we achieve accepted quality production much faster." He explained that the council operation is now confident enough to bring the electoral forms production in-house, which will save approximately GBP6,000 a year.
Jobs like a six-page A5 colour leaflet, which is currently on press, would have worried Cheshire in the past because of the danger of plate stretch.
However, he said that now the clarity and the quality of the image are so good that we feel able to compete with commercial printers.
And he concluded: "Quality, price and service are our business ethos and that's where the Vector TX52 is really helping us to succeed and move printing services forward.".
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