Chicago, Ill (NEXPO, Booth #1014) March 31, 2006 -- Agfa Graphics announced today that Cox Ohio Publishing, producers of newspapers in the southwest Ohio region, recently purchased three violet laser-based :Advantage CLS systems from Agfa. The systems were installed at the company’s Print Technology Center in Franklin, Ohio. At the heart of the decision to go with Agfa's :Advantage CLS was its unique automation capabilities. With the addition of the :Advantage, Cox Ohio Publishing, which has a weekly readership of more than one million from several daily and weekly publications, will be much more efficient, resulting in various critical benefits throughout the enterprise. "None of the other systems available has the automation capabilities that Agfa's :Advantage has. With its violet laser for high plate throughput and the automated cassette loading system, Agfa's :Advantage will bring us operational efficiencies that no other system could," said Joe McKinnon, vice president of operations, Cox Ohio Publishing. "The most significant advantage with Agfa's system is the number of plates that we can load into the machine and the large quantities of multiple sizes. We can now load 1,200 plates of one size or 400 each of three other sizes. Everything can be online at once and we can change from one plate to another without manual intervention. This allows us to be very efficient because it gives us redundancy between the machines." The :Advantage CLS is a high-speed cassette model designed to provide optimum speed with multiple plate sizes online. It offers resolutions as high as 2540 dpi and speeds of 220 plates per hour. As an end-loading system with a small footprint, The :Advantage CLS ensures convenient positioning within the prepress room, permitting side-by-side positioning of multiple units. "Agfa has the most robust automation and autonomy offerings that larger newspapers have been asking for in their CtP systems," said Agfa's Sheila Nysko, business development manager, Newspaper Systems, North America. "Newspapers are all looking for ways to give their readers and advertisers the best product in the most efficient way. Agfa's automation capabilities in the :Advantage line provide exactly what they are looking for, while also offering high-quality printing and screening solutions."