Mortsel, Belgium – Agfa Graphics today announced that at IFRA Expo 2010 in Hamburg, Germany (4-6 October) the company will demonstrate its ongoing commitment to the newspaper industry with innovations designed to reduce costs, eliminate waste, increase productivity and add new revenue streams. In Hall 3 - Stand 3.220/3.120 Agfa will show an array of :Arkitex software innovations, a new chem-free plate production system and a high-speed :Advantage platesetter designed to reduce costs while improving quality and productivity.

"To profit in today's market, newspapers need five things: The ability to respond to the fast-moving marketplace, the means to simplify processes, new ways to add revenue, a formula for reducing costs while increasing quality and tools to reduce their environmental impact", said Marc Op de Beeck, Senior Vice President, Agfa Graphics. "We've combined our experience in newspaper production with our understanding of the rapidly changing market to bring solutions to newspapers that will put them in a state of readiness for the future. Chem-free violet plates are a good example: they simplify the process – not just by automating but by eliminating development. Software too impacts what the customer can do, but it also streamlines the process, responding to the ongoing challenges of newspaper production."

At IFRA Expo, Agfa will demonstrate :Arkitex software with emphasis on its newest innovations: products include :Arkitex Portal, :Arkitex Director, :Arkitex Analyst, :Arkitex Vantage, Arkitex Intellitune and :Arkitex OptiInk. From customer and advertiser collaboration to on-press productivity and conservation, Agfa's software solutions will offer newspapers the means to achieve new levels of productivity and quality, while reducing costs and eliminating waste.

The next-generation :Advantage N XXT platesetter, targets high-end newspaper printers that need to match varying production peaks and newspaper printers who are exploring new business opportunities. Now they can make better use of press capacity and deliver higher quality output, a prerequisite for the hybrid market. The :Advantage N XXT will be running live in combination with :N92VCF violet chem-free plates.

Agfa will also launch the :VXCF, a dedicated Clean-Out Unit (COU) for the successful :N92-VCF chem-free violet plate. The eco-friendly plate and new Clean-Out Unit will help newspapers reduce costs and increase productivity. The system can reach speeds of over 300 plates/hour, while Agfa's chem-free setups require 20% less energy to run and take up 20% less floor space.

"We are the industry's leading provider of newspaper production solutions. We achieved this position by staying on top of market trends, understanding customer pressures and finding solutions to address both", added Op de Beeck. "That's what visitors will find at IFRA Expo at the Agfa stand."