4/3/01 - "Printers in all parts of the country who were using competitors’ products are turning to us in increasing numbers," says John Wilson, technical and product manager at Kodak Polychrome Graphics. Kodak Polychrome Graphics is the largest supplier of thermal CtP plates. "It is true to say that all manufacturers at some time do experience product issues, but the secret is to learn from these and action corrective measures speedily. We have done this, and gained production momentum and stock to ensure supplies for now and in the future. Our customers are keen to profit from the performance and consistent quality of our plates," says Mr Wilson. Jim McDermott, founder and managing director of Finchmark Graphics in Stockport, says: "We were originally running on Kodak Polychrome Graphics plates but their supply and quality problems forced us to switch to Lastra. Then they started having quality problems at the time that Kodak Polychrome Graphics solved theirs. So we went back to KPG, who sent three engineers in to change us over at a weekend and now we are very happy with the Electra plates." Thermal CtP has grown in popularity due to its ease of processing and increased performance in the press room. Kodak Polychrome Graphics has the advantage that it invested in research and development of its thermal CtP plates early on and has gone through the learning curve and solved any problems. Its plates are reliable and produce consistent results. Kodak Polychrome Graphics has over 150 accounts for Electra plates and the numbers are rapidly growing. To compliment this growth in CtP technology the company has a 16 strong technical support team, who not only support new installations, and troubleshoot, but carry out customer audits on a regular basis in the early days of CtP adoption by customers.