Kodak Adds to Portfolio of Eco-Conscious
Newspaper Printing Plates at WAN-Ifra 2012
Printers enjoy environmental and cost savings with the
new KODAK THERMALNEWS PT Digital Plate
Kodak is continuing to lead the way in sustainable plate making for
newspaper printing with its latest addition, the KODAK THERMALNEWS PT
Digital Plate, launching at WAN-IFRA’s World Publishing Expo .
The KODAK THERMALNEWS PT Digital Plate lets printers skip the preheat and prewash steps in processing, saving both energy and water. The plate is capable of the same performance as KODAK THERMALNEWS GOLD Digital Plates, so printers can reduce cost and environmental impact without sacrificing run length capability or print quality. Additionally, printers have the option of keeping the preheat and prewash steps for significantly longer run lengths, up to 3,50,000 impressions. The THERMALNEWS PT Digital Plate is the only processed newspaper plate that eliminates the preheat steps in processing. Violet plates, because of their technology, must always have a preheat step, so now there’s one more reason for newspaper printers to choose thermal imaging.
MZ Druckereigesellschaft mbH, a print shop in Halle an der Saale, Germany, is running the THERMALNEWS PT Plate without preheat. Dirk Borrmann, printing department manager at the company says, “Plate processing is now much easier because the new THERMALNEWS PT Plate lets us cut out the preheat and prewash steps. At the same time, our costs are down and we can make the plates in a more ecologically friendly way, because we use less energy and less water. After going through more than 140,000 THERMALNEWS PT Plates, we’re convinced that this Kodak product beats everything else like it in the market, mainly because there’s no preheating.”
Quality and Productivity
The KODAK THERMALNEWS PT Digital Plate also delivers excellent resolution through 36-micron Stochastic screening. This opens up new printing opportunities for newspapers, while clean processing and long developer life reduce maintenance and chemistry costs. By not having to wait for the preheat oven to start up, printers can see a significant overall reduction in plate production time and faster time to press. Also, they have the opportunity to save energy by turning their processor off when it’s not in use, because they know they’ll be able to start up quickly when plates need to be made. In addition, the no preheat KODAK T-HDX Plate Processor has a very small footprint compared to preheat processors, letting newspapers fit more productivity into prepress. Customers who already own a preheat processor can just turn off the preheat and prewash functions to enjoy the lower costs and reduced environmental impact of the plate without making any additional investment.
Customer St. Galler Tagblatt AG, a company of the Swiss NZZ media group, has chosen to use the plate with preheat to take advantage of extra long run lengths. “We still work with preheating, which means we can handle even our longest print runs with a single set of THERMALNEWS PT Plates,” explains Hansjürg Stihl, department manager newspaper production. “That’s a critical argument as far as we’re concerned because we don’t have to make any double plates and we avoid plate changes, which are still done manually.”
“The KODAK THERMALNEWS PT Digital Plate cuts the time and costs associated with getting runs on and off presses, while reducing energy consumption,” says Philip Cullimore, managing director, Consumer and Commercial Businesses EAMER and Chairman Eastman Kodak Sarl. “Customers are very excited about this new innovation in newspaper plates.”
The KODAK THERMALNEWS PT Digital Plate reduces environmental impact via the elimination of preheat, water consumption reduction, low chemistry consumption and smaller processing footprint while maintaining or improving the benefits of robustness and speed.
Eco-Conscious Plate Portfolio
The new plate joins Kodak’s other newspaper plates that help printers improve their sustainability. Kodak’s other new plate, the KODAK SONORA NEWS Process Free Plate, lets printers completely eliminate processing equipment and chemistry, so they reduce costs and waste, while getting to press fast. Zero Hora, one of the largest newspaper publishers in Brazil, recently installed a KODAK GENERATION NEWS Platesetter and chose to run SONORA NEWS Plates for a prepress solution that provides quality, productivity, and reduced environmental impact. Zero Hora’s industrial director Péricles Cenço explained, “We believe the fact that Kodak’s CtP solution allows a 100 percent chemical-free process shows it is in line with our group’s values about sustainability.” The big thing for Zero Hora, beyond sustainability, is productivity. Péricles noted, “We are differentiated with our print quality without losing productivity in prepress.”
For newspapers who have already invested in violet CtP equipment, Kodak provides the KODAK VIOLETNEWS GOLD Digital Plate, which, when processed with KODAK 206 xLo Plate Developer, lets them significantly reduce chemistry consumption over other newspaper plates in the market, including “chemistry free” plates.
“Collectively these innovations have been designed to help newspaper printers enhance their sustainability by providing reductions in chemistry, energy, and water usage to match today’s market demands,” adds Cullimore. “This will ensure they stay ahead of the competition in a market facing increasing profitability pressures.”
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