ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill. September 12, 2007 -- Screen (USA) will present a plaque to Quad/Graphics, Inc. to commemorate the Sussex, Wis.-based printing company's purchase of the 11,111th computer-to-plate (CTP) device manufactured by Screen. The presentation will take place September 10 during a 40th anniversary celebration for Screen (USA).
This landmark platesetter - a PlateRite Ultima 36000Z 36-up unit with multiple-cassette autoloader - will increase output capacity at Quad/Graphics' Lomira, Wis., manufacturing plant and more easily accommodate the expanding number of printing plates used each month.
The Lomira facility spans more than 2 million square feet. Its expansive pressroom houses gravure presses and web offset presses. Quad/Graphics' new platesetter will join an existing PlateRite Ultima 32000 32-up model.
The PlateRite 36000Z accommodates plate sizes ranging from 25.6 x 21.7 inches to 82.6 x 62.9 inches. It features twin 512-channel laser diode imaging heads based on Grating Light Valve (GLV) technology. It can image 29 full-size plates per hour. The twin exposure heads on the PlateRite 36000Z simultaneously image two smaller plates side by side, for a maximum hourly throughput of 58 plates.
For long automated operation, the MA-L36000 autoloader can hold up to four cassettes with up to 75 full-size or 150 eight-up plates in each cassette.
In January 2003, the Lomira facility became the site of the first PlateRite Ultima installation in the United States. Because of the positive experience that Quad/Graphics had with the fully automated PlateRite Ultima 32000, the company in late 2003 installed two of the 32-up platesetters at its then-new Oklahoma City, Okla., plant. Earlier this year, Quad/Graphics added two more PlateRite Ultimas - a PlateRite Ultima 32000Z and PlateRite Ultima 36000Z - at its plant in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
"Quad/Graphics has a great relationship with Screen," said Jim Mercier, corporate director of digital imaging. "The PlateRite platesetters are absolutely flawless. They are well-built and very reliable. We don't see Screen service technicians on-site very often, because the machines continually run without breaking down. The uptime is incredible. We conduct overall equipment effectiveness measurements on all of our platesetters, and the Screen devices are world-class as far as the rating goes."
Screen's history of CTP
Screen set a significant milestone for digital prepress technology in 1995 with the launch of the PlateRite 1080. Screen's first computer-to-plate (CTP) recorder employed a visible light laser to image printing data directly onto lithoplates.
The 1998 debut of the PlateRite 8000 eight-up platesetter established Screen as a leader in thermal CTP. Today, the PlateRite portfolio boasts the widest range of formats, from two-page to 36-page, for commercial sheetfed, web, newspaper and package printing.
Other models in the PlateRite Ultima lineup include the PlateRite Ultima 16000 (16-up) and PlateRite Ultima 24000 (24-up) series.