The firm is paying 7m ($11.25m) to buy First Graphics plate line in South Africa.

This establishes us as a fully integrated player, said chief executive Amos Michelson. We can now offer one-stop support from software to the pressroom.

The firm, which has in the past been anti-bundling, acknowledged that it had to offer this to compete in the B2 and B3 markets with other integrated suppliers such as Agfa and Fuji .

We couldnt compete, said Creo corporate vice president marketing Boudewijn Neijens. This deal puts us on an equal footing with our rivals.

What is it they say about imitation being the sincerest form of flattery? asked Agfa UK Graphic Systems director Laurence Roberts.

However, not all firms see the one-stop shop as the only approach. According to KPG UK managing director Terry Baber, the move will not affect the firms strategy and he knew of no plans to return to the sale of electronics.

As well as its own factory, Creo is also using US and European plate manufacturers to make plates to its specification, something it has been testing for the past 18 months.

The biggest proportion of plates we sell today use our technology, but I cant say who makes them, said Michelson.

Creos suppliers for bundle deals are Ipagsa in Europe and Spectratech in North America.

It claimed that it now had access to enough capacity to supply 25% of the current demand for thermal plates, which it estimated would be 95m m2 this year.

Consumable revenues, including plates, are projected to account for 20% of its revenues by 2007, when it plans to be a $1bn firm.