WAKE FOREST, N.C. - Southern Lithoplate, Inc. (SLP), a leading manufacturer of digital printing plates and associated solutions, and Screen USA, the industry-leading supplier of computer-to-plate (CtP) recorders, today announced a new business relationship to benefit commercial printing companies. This agreement enables SLP to provide and service Screen's offset CtP units directly to North American customers as a standalone system or as part of a bundled configuration.

"Screen-manufactured CtP systems are in use at the world's most successful printing companies," noted Edward A. "Trip" Casson III, Chairman and CEO of SLP. "With the widest variety of output sizes and speeds in the market, these high-quality, reliable devices lay the foundation for outstanding print results. SLP has worked with Screen USA for over a decade, and this natural extension of our relationship demonstrates our companies' dedication to helping even more businesses run better, grow faster and print more profitably. Our collaboration will bring Screen's best-in-class CtP technology together with SLP's expertise in digital plate solutions to enhance customers' business performance."

"We are pleased to expand our partnership with SLP in the Strategic Alliance for the commercial printing market," said Mike Fox, Screen USA's President. "Access to the latest technology is the lifeblood of any printing business. Screen and SLP are both committed to providing innovative solutions, so it is a natural fit. Together, we can help printing companies achieve their growth objectives."

To bring total systems solutions to commercial printers, the SLP Strategic Alliance forms partnerships with key suppliers of equipment, software and consumables. In addition to Screen platesetters, it includes Esko's automated workflow software products.

Introduced in 1995, the Screen PlateRite CtP series is today a de-facto standard in the printing industry. Screen continues to introduce products for its customers' ever-changing needs, such as the recently launched PlateRite HD 8900 series, a high-output platesetter capable of imaging 67 eight-up plates an hour.

SLP digital plates for commercial printing applications provide advantages in dot reproduction, productivity and materials usage. The popular Cobra 830 negative-working plate delivers exceptional resolution and print fidelity. The new-generation Integra 830 P is a positive-working, no-prebake thermal printing plate for today's quality-driven, cost-conscience pressrooms.

For more information about SLP's Strategic Alliance and commercial printing solutions, contact (800) 638-7990 or visit www.slp.com or www.screenusa.com.