Kodak says US catalogue printer Inserts East is saving time and money with its process-free plates.

The family-owned New Jersey company produces newspaper and direct mail advertising inserts on nine web presses, with volumes for one customer's weekly flyers running to six million impressions alone.

The plant handles both short and long run lengths on a range of paper stocks, from the lightest newsprint to heavy coated sheets, with web widths ranging from 229-1270mm. While traditional, processed and post-baked plates were extremely reliable, the company became frustrated with the time it took to get plates ready for the press, which was seven to eight minutes in some cases.

"Time is huge around here. We have nine presses sitting out on our floor, waiting for plates. The sooner we can get plates out to the presses, the better it is for our whole operation," said pre-production manager Cathy Hamilton. A conversation with process free plates focussed on ability to perform, given that Inserts East was already aware of cost-saving benefits from the elimination of chemistry.

Hamilton says the switch brought a number of game-changing process benefits while improving overall sustainability: "The time savings are tremendous," she says. "Because we no longer need to post bake plates, we are saving energy, and we are now completely free of any chemicals, which is awesome. Most importantly, we're realising all these benefits, while enjoying print quality that is equal to, if not better than, our previous post baked plates."

An investment in Kodak's CTP technology includes two Trendsetter News platesetters and two The combination of these with Sonora X plates has created a prepress environment that has increased productivity, sustainability, and service to its customers, she says.