No going back

Apr 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Denise Kapel

Not many people want to deal with a startup company anymore,” says Gary Crescenze, president and CEO of Delmarva Printing (Salisbury, MD). But when another company bought the printing company he worked for, he and some of his fellow workers decided to take a chance on a new venture. They found support and a reliable equipment source in Heidelberg (Kennesaw, GA).

With 27 years' experience in the industry and clients already onboard, Crescenze had a pretty good idea what type of equipment he wanted. But as a startup with limited funds, sourcing equipment was a challenge. He had run various manufacturers' printing presses in the past, and Heidelberg's most recently. He says, “We always felt that once we got into Heidelberg, there was no going back,” citing the equipment's reliability and durability. “We had to have a 6-color press of at least 29 inches and a coater,” as well as all the equipment from prepress through the bindery. “Heidelberg was one of the few companies that would say, ‘Yes, we'll sell the equipment to you.’”

That's a big shopping cart

With financing and the investment of as many as one-third of Delmarva's 18 employees, the firm went about selecting equipment for its entire shop floor.

Heidelberg offers two different CTP technologies: the Prosetter line, which is a violet laser device for metal plates; and the thermal Suprasetter line for metal plates, including the Saphira Chemfree plate.

Heidelberg helps shops with the process of evaluating their equipment needs when they make a CTP or press purchase. According to Heidelberg CTP product manager Mark Tonkovich, there are several factors that come into play when determining which CTP device to bundle with a specific press. “We look at what their printing needs are first and then work from the pressroom back out. Once we have that criteria, it will point toward one CTP technology or the other, or sometimes even both.”

When it came time to choose, Crescenze decided to go with the newest technology: chemical-free CTP. “It was a concern of ours,” he says, “because we weren't sure how durable the plates were [metal Saphira Chemfree plates from Heidelberg]. But they told us we shouldn't have anything to worry about and we've had great success with them so far. No fix, no developer, just gum — that's it.” He purchased a Suprasetter A 74 platesetter along with a complete digital front-end Prinect system for the shop's chemical-free prepress area.

“Every [Saphira Chemfree] plate is good for 100,000 run length and 250 line screens,” Tonkovich explains. “But it isn't recommended for UV inks, which are more aggressive, or for a half-million run length.” According to Crescenze, Delmarva's average job runs well below 100,000 impressions, so they haven't had trouble with the run length limitation.

Cost was another important factor. “We're paying almost the identical price for the plate,” says Crescenze. “But because we don't have to buy the chemicals, it's that much less maintenance and disposal that we have to worry about, and it's just one less thing we have to buy. So it's actually a cheaper system.”

Flexibility at startup and into the future

Touted as “the modular CTP systems that expand with your needs,” the Suprasetter family offers versatility in plate handling, format coverage and punching. Configurations range from the 4- or 8-page basic model to the Single Cassette Loader and fully automatic Multi Cassette Loader. The SCL can hold up to 150 plates of 0.15 mm (0.006 inch) thickness in one cassette. With a plate thickness of 0.3 mm (0.012 inch), capacity is still up to 100 plates per cassette. The MCL version offers up to four cassettes for a maximum of 600 plates. The plates can be in one format or a flexible combination of up to four different formats.

Suprasetter has a compact design and temperature stabilizer to help ensure accurate register. Its Intelligent Diode System (IDS) ensures operation can continue with no noticeable drop in performance even if a diode fails due to wear and tear. The 400-sheet capacity slip sheet collecting tray helps eliminate paper jams.

All the status information from the device can be transferred to the Prinect prepress software, where the MIS evaluates the data. The Suprasetter can also be integrated into the JDF-based Prinect Printready System workflow.

“Chemfree plates seem to be a hot button, and they're only available on thermal right now,” says Tonkovich. “[In smaller shops], violet actually was dominating. Then it switched to thermal because of the chemfree technology. But with violet chemfree on the horizon, it will be interesting because violet has a lower cost of ownership. At Drupa, you'll see some interesting developments on violet chemfree plates.”