The difficult economy appears to be helping to drive sales of four-up systems among small and mid-size printers.
The predictions and projections have come to pass: the four-up computer-to-plate (CTP) market has heated up, and shows no immediate signs of cooling down.
It is a buyer's market, with solid offerings and affordable price points in thermal, visible-light, and computer-to-analog plate technology. And, contrary to conventional wisdom, the turbulent economy appears to be helping drive the sale of four-up systems, as small and mid-size printers look to benefit from CTP's cost savings as well as increased turnaround and quality.
Planned investment
In its 2002 Installed Base/Market Share Benchmark Study, New York City-based TrendWatch Graphic Arts reveals that the rate of planned investment of four-up CTP systems remained fairly constant from the period beginning spring 1998 through spring 2002, with 2% to 3% of commercial printers reporting planned installations. The highest rate of interest was demonstrated in fall 2001, peaking at 6%.
Further, say TrendWatch survey data, in the last year more four-up CTP systems have been introduced, many at lower price points, with the state of the economy prompting greater demand as well. In terms of market share, says the study, of the roughly 1,200 four-up systems installed in the U.S., Agfa has the largest share at 56%, followed by Creo (18%), Fujifilm (6%), Heidelberg (6%), and ECRM (2%).
Boston-based State Street Consultants says that the North American market for four-up CTP systems is growing rapidly. By 2002, four-up metal CTP had grown to 28% of the metal market, from only 8% in 1998.
Thermal surges, then slows
From 1998 through 2001, according to State Street, thermal's share of CTP units had been growing strongly in the four-up market, from a low of 21% in 1998 to a peak of about 75% in 2001. However, in 2002, the shift toward thermal appears not only to have stabilized, but reversed itself, decreasing to an estimated 69% for last year.
Other industry figures for all platesetting systems show that at the end of 2002, the worldwide base of 3,000 installed four-up thermal units was 39%, the rest being visible-light-based machines. Projected figures show that at the end of 2003, worldwide installations will grow to 4,100, of which 38% will be thermal.
Depending on feature sets, prices for four-up CTP systems cover a wide range, from $30,000 for a manual computer-to-conventional plate system, to close to $200,000 for a fully automated system.
Manufacturers are taking different approaches to meeting the demands of this market.
Justifying cost
"The big reason that four-up printers are investing in CTP is cost justification," says Dave Furman, senior marketing manager for Agfa Graphic Systems. "These printers tend to be smaller, and labor is more valuable. This is why our Palladio violet laser platesetter has been so well received: printers see a fast return on their investment. It is fully automated, allowing small printers to free up their employees rather than spend time manually inputting and processing plates."
"Heidelberg's response to the four-up market is to provide a wide range of options," says Mark Tonkovich, CTP product manager for Heidelberg USA. "For example, we offer the thermal Topsetter P 74 as a manual or fully automated device. The Prosetter 74, our violet laser device, is equipped with a standard 30-mW laser that lets printers run either silver halide or photopolymer plates [pending certification], while offering internal punching, temperature compensation, and automation."
On the consumables side, Presstek's Applause no-process plate, designed for run lengths up to 100,000, is in the final stages of field testing. By year end, Presstek's Dimension 400 and, most likely, Creo's Lotem 400 Quantum thermal platesetting systems will be able to run the process-free plate.
"While the basic value proposition is uniform across size formats, as you go lower in size, and with smaller printers in general, the benefit of a no-process plate becomes that much more clear," says Presstek marketing manager for digital media John O'Rourke.
Take out the bake
"The infrastructure that we are eliminating by taking out the processor and the baker will make CTP more appealing to the four-up market," he continues. "We are taking what is a relatively complex process requiring multiple steps and reducing it to nothing more complex than imaging a plate and putting it on press. There is nothing else you need to do. You don't need plate processors, fixers, or ovens. And there is no processor cheaper than having no processor."
Low price points
Other manufacturers are looking to keep the costs of their machines at low price points, offering manual systems or CTP devices that image conventional plates.
For example, the Jet Plate from Print Imaging Sciences (Pisces) utilizes specially manufactured negative-working analog plates up to 24x29", imaged with an Epson ink-jet printer reconfigured for platemaking.
"The key to the entire process is the marking fluid we put on the plate," says Hank Clifford, vice president of sales and marketing for Pisces. "Internally, we call it 'liquid light.' When the marking fluid comes into contact with the emulsion, it creates a physical change, identical to that of a light hitting the plate."
BasysPrint's f-generation UV-Setter 57-f , introduced at Graph Expo 2002, images a maximum plate size of 27x37". This newest model doubles exposure speeds from previous models, outputting 24 plates per hour versus 13 plates per hour from predecessors. The UV-Setter models expose conventional printing plates with UV light in the wavelength range of 360 nm to 450 nm. And unlike other CTP systems, it doesn't require any change in workflow, says BasysPrint Corporation president Jeff Hopkins.
"Also, there are considerable cost savings," he adds. "Conventional plates cost 25% to 30% less than digital plates, and if you add the chemistry costs of CTP plates, the savings are quite a bit more. Additionally, the customer can choose from 50 different plates."
Supreme Graphics, Arcadia, Wis., found that its job quotes were being beaten by competitors time and time again because of the shop's film-based platemaking workflow. After investigating thermal, visible light, and computer-to-conventional plate systems, the 56-employee shop installed a four-up BasysPrint UV-Setter 57 system last year.
No change required
"We didn't have to change anything in the pressroom, including the plates," says Supreme Graphics plant manager Dan Bjerke. "We already had a Rampage RIP and Preps Pro, so it was seamless moving to that technology."
Since switching its BasysPrint platemaking strategy, Supreme Graphics, which makes around 1,000 plates monthly, has shaved 30% to 35% off of the time it takes to make plates. Quality levels have also improved dramatically, says company president Chuck Blaschko. "When we did our quality tests--comparing thermal, visible light, and BasysPrint technologies to our regular film process--our film version came out in last place."
New offerings
Many platesetter manufacturers released new systems, options, or upgrades last year at Graph Expo in Chicago.
Agfa introduced for its platesetter line a hybrid screening solution option called Sublima. The offering combines Agfa Balanced Screening (ABS) and frequency-modulated (FM) screenings, thus allowing printers to increase their screen line rulings almost twofold without really making any changes to processes, says Agfa's Furman. Unlike stochastic screening, he says, Sublima doesn't require any change to the printing process.
Printers taking advantage of Agfa CTP offerings include the in-plant shop of Hershey Foods, which wanted to switch to a digital workflow to turn around jobs faster, and to work with first-generation film. Explains Robert Wamsher, Hershey Foods manager of printing services, the recent installation of an Agfa Palladio violet laser platesetter has allowed the Hershey, Pa.-based shop to go from digital files to press in minutes, compared to the hours that traditional imposition, stripping, and platemaking processes previously took.
Innovative Technologies in Print (ITP), an information/distribution company located in nearby Elizabethtown, Pa., acts as facilities manager for the in-house plant's prepress area. In fact, it was ITP that brought in the Palladio, a system that was chosen not only because of its features, but also because it was an Agfa system.
Partnering for productivity
"The move to a CTP system was a partnership involving Hershey, ITP, and Agfa," says Dean Poff, executive vice president and chief operating officer for ITP. "Agfa made sure the system was calibrated to Hershey's presses, made new curves, and made sure the quality was there. "Plus, at ITP's own shop, we have an eight-up Agfa Galileo system, which gives Hershey Foods some redundancy if something should happen to the Palladio," he says, adding that the two systems are tied together through the system's PrintDriver connection.
Creo's new Lotem 400 Quantum thermal platesetter combines the machine's automation capabilities with the company's SquareSpot thermal-imaging technology. At Graph Expo, Creo highlighted its chemical-free option, available for the Lotem 400 Quantum and as an upgrade to existing platesetters.
This option eliminates the need for a plate processor, pre-bake oven, or storage of toxic processing chemicals. Say company officials, printers with small to medium-length print runs and physical space restrictions save on the capital cost of a plate processor, and the ongoing costs associated with chemicals, cleaning materials, and technical resources essential to maintaining this type of equipment.
"More recently, to ensure that printers can produce all of their plate sizes on a single device, its minimal plate size has been reduced to 9x12"," says Creo product marketing manager Joe Luckett.
Pony X Press Printing Services, Reynoldsburg, Ohio, required a CTP system that could handle waterless and non-waterless plates for a variety of presses, including an Itek 12x18" unit. In July 2000, it installed a four-up Creo Trendsetter, which is used to output approximately 600 plates a month for run lengths that can range from 100 to several million.
Printing a fine line
"We differentiate our company through the use of fine-line screens," says Gene Scott, president of 30-employee Pony X Press. "We were running 300-line screens, and after a six-month trial-and-error process, we found that we could run Staccato screening with Presstek's chemistry-free plate, Anthem, which is giving us the equivalent of screening greater than 300-line quality. So far, we haven't found a plate that we couldn't make on the Trendsetter."
Press efficiency at the shop has improved dramatically because all the plates now fit, says Scott. "We just had a press check a few days ago where the client wanted to increase the magenta," he relates. "Rather than spend the time jockeying with ink keys, we just ordered another plate with 10% more red. We stopped the press, had the plate made, put it on, everything was in perfect register, and the whole process took 20 minutes."
Escher-Grad Technologies, which launched the Cobalt-4 violet-laser diode platesetter last April, is releasing an X2 option that doubles the plate output speed on four- and eight-up systems.
Says Linda Coburn, Escher-Grad marketing communications manager, the Cobalt-4, a manual device, lists for $50,000 and is capable of imaging both silver-based and photopolymer plates ranging in size from 8 1/2x11" up to 24x29".
Competition is key
Staying competitive is one of the key reasons that Highlight Printing, a commercial printer based in Trenton, Mich., installed its Escher-Grad Cobalt-4 violet platesetter this January.
"You can't afford to hand strip things anymore," says Mardie Kugler, the company's vice president and general manager. "We couldn't charge for negative and stripping time and still remain competitive."
Esko-Graphics unveiled its new optical system, called FreeBeam, for its PlateDriver platesetter line. Designed for imaging violet silver halide or photopolymer plates, the PlateDriver with FreeBeam (5/30 mW) features the integration of an adjustable laser as well as imaging optics.
Choice of lasers
However, the system also can be equipped with a thermal fiber laser for thermal plates, an argon-ion laser for silver halide plates, or a FD-Yag laser for photopolymer plates.
Last December, Printing Corporation of America (PCA) installed a fully automated Esko-Graphics PlateDriver 4 violet 5-mW platesetter.
Timonium, Md.-based PCA--a Consolidated Graphics company, the largest sheetfed and half-web printing company in North America--employs 160 people full-time, producing an average of 1,400 jobs monthly. PCA runs seven different plate sizes on presses that range from a Heidelberg Quickmaster 46 to a Speedmaster 74.
"We needed a system that could handle those two extremes and everything in between," explains PCA systems administrator Sean Lynch. "That narrowed the choices down to very few."
Waiting to invest
Prior to buying its new platesetter, PCA had delayed its purchase of a CTP system for both internal and external reasons. Two years ago, the company moved from analog to digital contract proofing, which required both its sales staff as well as clients to accept dotless proofs. "We couldn't have made the move to CTP without first implementing digital proofing," says Robert Merrill, the company's prepress vice president.
But, adds Merrill, PCA also held off on going CTP until vendors themselves had shifted their focus to the four-up market. "Previously, CTP technology was too close to the bleeding edge," he states. "It wasn't tailored to our specific needs. We waited for the technology to have a chance to mature, for price points to become more competitive, and for manufacturers to start gearing systems to smaller plate sizes."
Faster output
At Graph Expo, Heidelberg released a new version of its Topsetter, the Topsetter P 74, which has an increased output speed from 16 to 20 plates per hour. Its maximum format size also has been expanded to accommodate the company's larger CD 74 press.
Heidelberg also debuted a single-cassette loader for its Prosetter 74 system that can hold 100 12-mil plates, or up to 150 six-mil plates, and include automatic slip-sheet removal.
Further, the Prosetter 102's minimum plate size has been reduced to accommodate Heidelberg's PM 46 press.
Creative Printing and Graphic Design, Inc., a mid-size commercial shop located in Orlando, Fla., is a 100% Heidelberg equipment user, from its printing equipment to its cutters, and now its CTP system.
Creative uses its Prosetter 74 violet laser platesetter with Heidelberg Saphira plates, and runs a Heidelberg MetaDimension workflow and Signastation imposition software. Say company officials, the new workflow signified more than a change in platemaking. For Creative, it was an opportunity to improve its entire production process.
"When we implemented CTP, we found some variances on press between what we were doing last year and what we're now doing," says company president Rick Pearce. "So we started matching to industry standards, rather than to our old film."
Adds Herb Collins, general manager, "Through this process, we had to look at what we were printing and how to decide whether or not we would continuing printing the old way, or improve and meet industry standards. We chose a path that we would improve our standards."
Finally, at Graph Expo, Screen (USA) debuted its PlateRite 4100 thermal 830-nm platesetter for two- and four-page presses. Producing up to 10 plates per hour, this machine supports plate sizes that range from 12.8x14.5" up to a maximum of 32.7x26".
The PlateRite 4100's external-drum design can be equipped with in-line punching blocks to ensure on-press registration. An optional auto-plate loader with slip-sheet removal and an automatic plate transport to processor also is available.
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