Pretoria based BusinessPrint, a print house providing B2 digital and litho print services for clients producing books, magazines, flyers, brochures, and stationery, has expanded its capabilities by introducing B1 printing to its offset print services.
The company added a new offset press along with a KODAK MAGNUS Q400 Platesetter. Looking to increase its productivity, the company soon upgraded to a MAGNUS Q800 Platesetter Z-speed with Multi-Cassette Unit, KODAK SONORA XP Process Free Plates and a KODAK PRINERGY Workflow System.
The integrated solution was carefully designed to spearhead the company’s future success, explained Jose Frazao, BusinessPrint’s operations director. ‘Our investment in Kodak technology has enabled our company to expand the range of applications we can offer our customers, while significantly improving our productivity and performance. The KODAK MAGNUS Q800 Platesetter with the Z-Speed option, which images 40 SONORA Plates per hour, has increased our capacity by 30% and alleviates the production constraint we experienced with our first platesetter.’
KODAK SONORA XP Process Free Plates were chosen as part of the firm’s commitment to reducing its environmental impact, as well as to cut costs by removing chemicals. Today, 100% of the plates that BusinessPrint uses are SONORA Plates. Offering high quality and the complete elimination of plate processing, SONORA Plates help increase productivity, simplify operations, and remove costs by reducing the number of steps required for plate making. Post-imaging, the plates can go immediately to the press, and they provide BusinessPrint the same resolution, reliability, accuracy, and repeatability as traditionally processed thermal plates while improving stability and consistency of print due to the elimination of unstable, hard-to-maintain processing systems. ‘We wanted to create a first mover advantage in South Africa regarding the use of process free plates to reduce our environmental impact and eliminate the cost of chemicals.’
Integral to BusinessPrint’s future is the automation of print processes, which is why the KODAK PRINERGY Workflow System is an essential tool for the company. ‘The KODAK PRINERGY Rules-Based Software has allowed us to automate imposition of regular jobs and provide a close-to-humanless-process from artwork submission to print ready impositions,’ said Frazao.
It has been nearly three years since BusinessPrint integrated the combined pre-press solution, and the impact to the company’s bottom line is material. ‘We did evaluate offerings from other suppliers, but we wanted one supplier for the platesetter, workflow, and plates. And it is a decision that has boosted our capacity by 30% and is helping us keep the promises we make to customers.’
