HANOVER PARK, Ill. (February 21, 2002) – Three days, two shifts, 700 plates. "Thanks to the Fujifilm Javelin Luxel T9000 CTP thermal platesetter, we’re producing plates at an extraordinary rate," says Dan Armenta, digital prepress supervisor at Commerce, Calif.- based Media Lithographics. "The speed the machine achieves has really helped cut our turnaround time. "Digital platesetting has significantly reduced press makeready times and improved our overall product quality through enhanced registration and decreased dot gain," reports General Manager Al Rivero. The company transitioned to CTP with the purchase of a complete Fujifilm CTP workflow system, centered on the Javelin and supported by Fujifilm’s Celebrant RIP, C-550 flatbed scanner, PictroProof and PreProofer 2000. Since switching to CTP, Rivero cites savings of more than 16 percent per month in overall prep costs and a 137 percent increase in productivity. Part of that savings, as well as the increased capacity, can be attributed to the Javelin. "The Javelin works great. It’s extremely reliable," says Armenta. "And, it has the speed and accuracy we need. It makes 12 plates per hour, and the plates are punched inside the machine (instead of externally), so registration is consistent. When plates register at the start of a job, makeready is quick." According to Armenta, color consistency and repeatability are other trademarks of the Javelin. From platemaking to proofing, Media Lithographics is saving time and money with Fujifilm technology. "Digital proofing is essential to CTP workflows," notes Rivero. "Our workload is a mix of high-quality four- to six-color sheetfed jobs and one- to two-color web books. The PictroProof and PreProofer devices address our needs perfectly. We use the continuous-tone Pictros as color contract proofs and the large inkjet PreProofs for imposition or pagination proofing. The quality and affordability of these proofs improve our competitive edge and offers a great value to our customers." A speedy proof is another necessity. "The PictroProof makes a proof in a matter of minutes," Armenta adds. "And, the color matches on-press. Our pressmen know they can match the PictroProof with the press sheet, and customers know the color they see on the proof is what they’ll see in print. It’s a relatively inexpensive proof, and it doesn’t take long to produce. We definitely save time and money with it." Kudos also goes for the other Fujifilm components. "When we conducted the initial purchase evaluation, even Fuji competitors admitted the C-550 flatbed scanner was a great product," says Rivero. "It was the only scanner in its class that could produce copydot scans without the necessity to mount the film on pins. It is extremely fast, and scan quality is excellent. "Another factor given top consideration during our purchase evaluation was RIP speed and overall workflow automation." notes Rivero. "Given our heavy workload, the Javelin would be expected to stay busy, and the RIP would have to keep up. Fuji’s Celebrant workflow system was by far the fastest we tested. Experience has proven this device to be able to stay well ahead of the platesetter’s demand of one ripped, trapped, imposed and proofed form every five minutes. And, just three system operators do all the preparatory activity required to produce our current output of over 2,200 digital plates per month." All together, the digital transition cost the company over half of a million dollars, Rivero reports. But the payoff is already evident. Currently ranked as one of the nation’s "Top 500 Printers" (according to Printing Impressions magazine), Media Litho epitomizes the high-tech success that is capable by advancing technologies. Dan Armenta believes the new Celebrant software (with additional trapping features, PDF workflow and ripped file archiving) holds great promise to enhance productivity at Media Lithographics.