‘STRAIGHT INTO IT’

HOW PROGRESSIVE PRINT COMPANIES TURNED FUJIFILM’S SUPERIA ZX PROCESSLESS PLATES INTO PRODUCTION WINS

Ease of use. No processor to maintain. No chemicals to deal with or dispose of. Environmentally and economically solid. Ricky De La Vega cannot say enough good things about the latest piece of technology he added to his equipment arsenal. The Miami-based printer—which runs a team that works three, eight-hour shifts, seven days a week from a stateof-the-art 50,000-square-foot facility—is always looking for an advantage.

De La Vega, who started the company in 1995, is known for continually providing his customers with rapid turnaround times, breathtaking quality and superior customer service. Sporting some of the industry’s most innovative commercial equipment portfolios, the Fujifilm SUPERIA ZX Processless Plates was a natural extension to its innovative mindset.

Designed to help reduce paper consumption, ink, and other main materials used in the offset printing process, De La Vega says his team was anxious to see what the ZX plates could do. Fujifilm designed the ZX to replace one of its process plates, which required a processor and chemicals to develop. That was one of the main selling points for NuPress.

“Our pressmen like that the ZX eliminated the plate processor because it helps them save time, money and it increases their production,” De La Vega says. “If you give the pressman anything that gives them more steps or slows things down, you’re going to get a kickback. But the ZX plates were everything they were supposed to be. They did just what the manual said they would do. Our guys saw this.”

And, along with the buy-in from his team, the other benefits were all in black and white. For example, De La Vega says that his average water bill went from between $2,200-$2,500 every three months to $1,300-$900. Less use of chemicals was another important factor. “One of the biggest things with the other plates is that it took two people, four to five hours, to clean the rollers and the processor. They had to fill it up, drain all the chemicals, and then fill it up and drain it again. There were big savings in time and money by making the change.”

When the Knight Abbey Printing and Direct Mail team assessed the production value it was getting on the plates they were using, Tonya Spiers says the numbers jumped out—just not the way they had expected. Pulling in around 40,000 impressions, the pressroom team was having to run through two to three sets of plates just to complete a run. The production time was not only costing money, but also was putting a severe crimp in their manpower time.

Spiers, President of the Biloxi, Mississippi, full-service printer, knew it was time to make a change. “It was a simple switch,” she recalls. Today, the Knight Abbey team is getting 100,000 impressions and above—which means that along with no longer having to stop the presses on longer runs to change plates, the plates are producing more higher quality returns. “From a time and efficiency standpoint, you cannot ask for anything more,” Spiers says. “When you can save time and money, reduce the number of plates you have to purchase, and cut down on the amount of chemicals you use, everyone is happy.”

When you ask John Rawlins, President of iTek Graphics, to sum up his company’s experience with Fujifilm’s SUPERIA ZX processless thermal plates, one word seems to cover it all—flawless. Like other printers that have made the conversion, the Concord, North Carolina, printer was looking for ways to improve cost and time efficiencies, and fortify its sustainability efforts.

In a time when the industry continues to seek innovative ways to save money, time, and build a solid footing on the green front, the Fujifilm SUPERIA system has been the right innovation at the right time. The system helps reduce paper consumption, ink and other main materials used in the offset printing process—all while conserving energy, lowering emissions and reducing water consumption.

Rawlins, a 40-plus year industry veteran, says making the transition exceeded iTek’s expectations all on fronts. “The plates have been flawless on our two Komori 40-inch 8-color UV presses. Plate life is up 25% over our previous plates, and the highly visible latent image on the plates makes plate identification much easier. There are no pin holes, no scratches, no defects. They have truly been error free.”

“In this business, it’s hard to get pressmen to adapt to any new processes, especially when it comes to ink and plates. With the SUPERIA ZX, they accepted it with open arms. The SUPERIA ZX plate is a totally reliable and dependable product. A definite ‘win’ for us.”