TEWKSBURY, MASS -- October 14, 2008 -- Following up on their new campaign to encourage graphic arts professionals to consider energy conservation and be more aware of the ecological benefits (announced in early February), ECRM today announced their line-up of CTP and workflow enhancements that will be showcased at Graph Expo 2008 (October 26-29 in Chicago). Exhibiting in booth #5442, ECRM will showcase three new platesetter offerings enhanced with the aim towards developing more eco-friendly CTP. For more information about ECRM and their offerings, go to www.ecrm.com.  
 
ECRM Platesetters Conserve Energy and Costs

For years, ECRM has engineered their violet CTP platesetters to be both economical and energy-efficient. For example, the MAKO CTP platesetters are designed to draw as little energy as it takes to light three 100-watt light bulbs. For some commercial customers, the cost saving in using an ECRM platesetter (versus an industry competitor) can add up to as much as $1000+ dollars per year. In an internal research study comparing various CTP offerings (based on product rating label, using lowest rated voltage and rated current), the MAKO platesetters were as much as 19 times more energy-efficient than some popular thermal CTP solutions.
 
Platesetter Design Equates to Energy and Dollar Benefits
 
The adoption of green technology is a function of both social and fiscal responsibility. Though we all strive for a cleaner environment, businesses must also protect the financial health of their operations, notes Doug Barr, Vice President, Western Hemisphere Sales, ECRM. Offerings that accomplish both are desirable. ECRM has always focused upon the needs of our customers to maximize their margins, while being as eco-friendly as possible.
 
The low-energy draw of ECRM platesetters can be attributed to its basic design, notes ECRM product engineering manager Dave Connor. Flatbed violet-imaging technology has major advantages when compared to thermal drum designs. Many thermal systems require an external drum to spin up [and spin down] for each plate. This is inherently inefficient. Flatbed imaging technology allows the plate to be loaded onto the platen and imaged directly.  The energy required to move the plate during imaging is but a small fraction of what it takes to start and stop a drum."
 
"In addition, thermal plates require extensive energy to expose. Some require pre-heat or post-bake ovens, while others draw laser energy 1000s of times greater than violet plates, resulting in system designs with multiple arrays of high-powered diodes. ECRM systems use a single violet laser diode. In addition, the use of flatbed violet imaging technology leads to an elegant and efficient design requiring only 300 Watts. That's over 19 times less energy than some thermal systems."
 
First US Showing of WorkMates 3.0
 
ECRM will exhibit, for the first time in the U.S., the next release of their commercial PDF workflow, WorkMates v3.0. WorkMates 3.0 sports an entirely new Graphic User Interface. This allows users to either view all or selected workflows. Users can choose to drop jobs into automatic flows for complete automation, or manual flows to create custom impositions to selected output devices. WorkMates 3.0 is a client server package offering users both Macintosh and PC clients with unlimited client connections. In addition, WorkMates 3.0 supports the latest Harlequin RIP release version 8.0 which offers PDFRaster output and increased performance from multi-threaded CPUs.
 
Enhanced 120 Milliwatt Laser Diode Platesetters

  MAKO 2x: Ideal for a first transition to CTP, the MAKO 2x system delivers high quality, 2-page platesetting at the price of an imagesetter. Offering a full resolution range of 1200  3556 dpi, it is one of the fastest 2-page CTP units in its class, imaging over 27 GTO plates per hour at 2400 dpi.
 
  MAKO 4x: The MAKO 4x has been one of the first Violet CTP devices in the world to offer commercial printers a clear path to chemistry-free technology. Representing ECRMs highest quality imaging output with resolution sets from 1200  3556 dpi, the MAKO 4x is one of the fastest 4-page CTP units in its class, imaging over 20 Speedmaster 74 plates per hour at 2400 dpi.
 
  MAKO 8x: Designed for commercial printers, the MAKO 8x is engineered specifically to improve the efficiency of multi-press environments through its fast, flexible and trouble-free operation. Suitable for 2, 4, 6 and 8 page signature formats, the MAKO 8x offers imaging resolutions from 1800 dpi to 3556 dpi, as well as outputs up to 18 8-page plates per hour at 2400 dpi.