What is it?
A thermal processless plate.

How does it work?
The plate is imaged on a standard thermal platesetter. Once imaged, it can be visually checked prior to being mounted on the press. The plate coating is removed by the ink onto the first few printed sheets during the press’ run-up to speed.

Why did you choose it?
As a company, we have always been aware of our responsibility to produce in an environmentally conscious way. This was the next logical step to take, as we have already put in place many procedures to reduce the impact of our manufacturing processes, such as running without alcohol.

Did you look at any other similar plates?
Yes. We trialled another processless plate before deciding on the Pro–T plate. We found that Pro–T images much faster than any other plate available.

What features do you particularly like about it?
In addition to its fast imaging speed, we like the fact that you can clearly see the image on the plate, preventing mix ups.

What features do you dislike?
None so far. We have been told that the plate is good for 100,000 impressions, but we have yet to demonstrate how accurate this claim is for ourselves. However, we do produce runs larger than this figure and would need to carefully watch how the plate performs on the longer runs.

How easy is it to use?
The procedure is very straightforward. Once the minders have been shown how to correctly start up the press, there are no ongoing issues.

How fast is it?
As fast as our old plates, so we haven’t had to make any allowances for it in our repro department.

How reliable is it?
We’ve had no issues since the initial transition.

What‘s the quality like?
As a leading supplier to the corporate sector, we can’t afford any quality compromises. In fact, we have found that the plate has the added benefit of printing sharper images than our previous plate.

How much time or money has it saved?
In the short term, we don’t expect any savings to be made. We are more interested in the reduced environmental impact. In the longer term, as the price of the plate comes down, we will benefit from the savings in waste disposal and reduced chemical costs.

Were there any difficulties experienced during installation?
The transition was easy – we just had to make a few minor adjustments to the way we worked. Fujifilm technicians were on hand to offer advice and make the transition as painless as possible.

How good has the service been?
As usual, Fujifilm has put in place all the resources needed to make the product a success.

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CONCLUSION
User’s verdict
Quality 5/5
Reliability 5/5
Ease of use 4/5
Value for money 3/5

Supplier’s response
Graham Leeson, Fuji (UK) marketing manager responds: “We now have over 20 Pro-T users in
the UK and all have experienced the same productivity and quality benefits. The transition to using Pro-T on-press for our customers has been simple and straightforward with no major changes required to the way they operate. Fuji’s plate specifications are always conservative and so Purbrooks can rest assured that the plate will perform to its published spec.”
Price On application
Contact Fujifilm Graphic Systems 01234 245245

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