WAKE FOREST, North Carolina — The response to a new, game-changing product in the Southern Lithoplate (SLP) portfolio, the CRON-ECRM thermal computer-to-plate (CtP) recorder, has translated into successful sales and installations, fueled by pent-up demand and the appeal of a highly productive prepress solution.
 
CRON, ECRM and SLP teamed up to create a true alternative to thermal platemaking in the marketplace. The resulting external-drum platesetter delivers digital plate output coupled with thermal quality, multiple resolutions and an ultra-low cost of ownership. As the exclusive North American distributor, SLP sold and installed 20 CRON-ECRM CtP systems in the first six months after their introduction in 2015.

SLP’s offering from CRON-ECRM comes with a three-year warranty on all parts, excluding consumables parts. Laser diodes are warrantied for three years or accumulated plate output of 200,000 plates.

Each CRON-ECRM model enables users to tailor the output and automation features to their specific productivity requirements. Furthermore, SLP’s certified technicians can upgrade the devices in the field after installation to achieve faster imaging speeds and full automation.

SLP Solutions offers a broad menu of technical and machine-based services and support to help customers improve the functionality and extend the life of the CRON-ECRM platesetter, as well as SLP customers’ other critical prepress and pressroom equipment. 

The core of SLP Solutions is one-call technical support, expert field service, proactive preventive maintenance and fast-turnaround replacement parts. Unmatched in response time, SLP Solutions provides services that include prepress optimization, installations, training, systems integration, mechanical breakdown service, press repairs, machine rebuilds and relocations. A wide selection of spare and replacement parts keeps costly downtime to a minimum. Technical specialists experienced at locating hard-to-find parts not in stock can identify the right replacement parts. Attention to shipping logistics ensures that parts arrive as expeditiously as possible.

“We are humbled by the CRON-ECRM CtP’s success in the marketplace,” said Steve Mattingly, senior vice president of SLP. “Many newspaper customers and commercial printing operations had held off making purchases following the last economic downturn. In the meantime, SLP worked to bring to market the right solutions. We launched products last year that give printers exactly what they’ve been waiting for. Add Presteligence production workflow software, and you have what the SLP Strategic Alliance was founded to be: best-in-class partners with the solutions you need at the lowest possible cost.”