ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill. - Every company wants to make its customers happy. At Malloy Inc., a history of innovation has resulted in a long list of happy and loyal customers. Malloy became the first book printer in the United States to acquire a Timson T-32 web press, in 1982. The company was an early adopter of computer-to-plate (CTP) technology, installing a visible light laser device in 1994 as its primary source of printing plates. In 2004, Malloy installed a Screen PlateRite 8600 eight-up device to ease the transition from visible light to thermal CTP. Recently, Malloy achieved another significant production milestone when it incorporated Screen's large, multiple-format PlateRite Ultima 16000 and PlateRite Ultima 32000Z thermal platesetters into its prepress workflow. "When we started shopping for thermal platesetting devices, we considered the reliability of the equipment, the reputation and longevity in the market of the manufacturer and the output capacity to meet our plate needs," recalled Brenda Brown, prepress manager. "The requirement of accommodating very large format plates narrowed the field to three suppliers. We needed a lot of capacity. The Screen devices fulfilled all of our criteria." From its inception in 1960, Malloy Inc. (formerly Malloy Lithographing, Inc.) has specialized in book manufacturing. Its original customers were located within 150 miles of the firm's production facility in Ann Arbor, Mich. Today, Malloy's printing of hard and soft cover volumes is focused primarily on the trade and educational segments of the book publishing industry. Its client roster boasts publishers, corporations and educational institutions, both large and small, from coast to coast. Malloy occupies a single production site totaling more than 180,000 square feet and employs 320 people. The company's 2005 sales will top $40 million. To produce text, Malloy relies on Timson book web presses: five T-32 presses, one T-32Q press and a Timson 48 ZMR press. Its pressroom also houses four Heidelberg Speedmaster sheetfed perfecting presses and a Heidelberg SORMZ press for printing text, covers and dust jackets. The ability to efficiently deliver 13,000 printing plates a month figured prominently in Malloy's decision on which CTP units to purchase. Flexible plate support, high productivity and automatic plate loading characterize the PlateRite Ultima series. The PlateRite Ultima 16000 images four-page plates to 16-page plates. It features a 512-channel laser diode exposure head based on Grating Light Valve (GLV) technology. When imaging 57 x 45-inch plates at 2,400 dpi, it outputs up to 23 plates an hour. For those requiring automatic and high-capacity plate loading, an optional dual-cassette plate autoloader comes standard with interleaf paper removal. Each cassette can hold up to 100 plates. Integrating two dual-cassette systems provides a total of 400 plates online to the platesetter. The PlateRite Ultima 32000Z allows high-speed production of four-page plates to 32-page plates. Two eight-page plates can be loaded side-by-side and imaged simultaneously. Twin 512-channel imaging heads output 40.5 x 31.5-inch plates at the rate of up to 46 per hour. The optional multiple-cassette autoloader holds four cassettes of up to 75 large-size plates each or 150 plates of eight-page format or smaller. Malloy outfitted both devices for fully automatic, continuous operation, according to Brown. "The Screen automation is a big advantage," she noted. "We run the platesetters at maximum capacity. Our web and sheetfed presses use seven different plate sizes, so we cross-load the autoloaders for full redundancy. And we fill them up." Brown said other attractive features include the separate loading and unloading bays, easy integration with Malloy's existing front-end workflow software and the solid engineering behind the machines. "The PlateRite devices are extremely well-made and durable," Brown pointed out. "Screen uses proven parts. The components aren't flimsy, and don't wear out. The platesetters are very stable during high-speed production. That adds to their capabilities in terms of precision. We're not having to constantly make adjustments. Our research showed Screen products to be excellent performers. We certainly have found that they lived up to those reports."