Green Printing with Violet Chemistry-free Plate
Tags: AGFA Graphics / AGFA N92- VCF / Agfa Polaris XTV
* Agfa Helps Jiefang Daily in China to pioneer with eco-friendly newspaper production
Agfa Graphics announced that Jiefang Daily Printing Centre, located in Shanghai, China, is the first newspaper printer in China to use Agfa Graphics’ N92-VCF printing plates. Thanks to Agfa’s violet chemistry-free plate technology, Jiefang Daily will make great progress in its aim for eco-friendly print production.
Jiefang Daily Printing Centre has 4 Agfa Polaris XTV platesetters. Together they produce about 70% of the newspaper’s printing plates. Jiefang Daily is pleased with the high automation, increased efficiency and improved quality of Computer to Plate systems. Now that the entire workflow management is automated, the next goal for Jiefang Daily is to realize full CTP production and reduce waste in the production cycle as a consequence. Switching to CtP technology has already allowed the factory to reduce 50% of its chemical waste. Following a clear trend in China, Jiefang Daily plans to take up more social responsibilities hence eliminate even more chemical waste. Jiefang Daily is the first printer in China to adopt Agfa’s N92-VCF (Chemistry Free) plate technology.
Upgrading from the conventional photopolymer plate system turned out to be easy for Jiefang Daily, without the compromise in speed and quality. The conversion of the conventional plate processor to a gumming processor went very smoothly. The configuration was intensively tested to ensure that production requirements could be met. Today, the violet chemistry-free plate has proven to be the ideal solution for Jiefang Daily. It eliminates chemical waste, thus contributing to an eco-friendly production, and at the same time eases plate handling and produces a very constant output quality.
Mr. Zhang Xiaoming, General Manager of Jiefang Daily, commented: “Agfa’s N92-VCF truly is an eco plate. The outstanding quality is amazing – it has a good imaging resolution, excellent dot reproduction, and a better ink-water balance that helps shorten make-ready time.” He also pointed out, that water is a valuable resource. “The gumming unit is very easy to maintain – all you need to do is exchange the protection gum when necessary. Last but not least, the plate perfectly meets our production requirements, both in terms of run length and print quality.”
Jiefang Daily is planning to gradually increase the use of chemistry-free violet plates throughout the production and aims for a print production that is totally environment-friendly.
About Jiefang Daily Newspaper Group
Jiefang Daily Newspaper Group was established in October 9, 2000. It is a media group with strong core competitiveness and overall strength on the base of “Jiefang Daily”. The Group has rich media type and reasonable structure, which includes “Jiefang Daily”, “Morning Post”, “Evening News”, “Press Digest”, “Shanghai Times”, “talent market newspaper”, “Real Estate Times”, “I Era”, “Daily Economic News”, “Shanghai Law News”, “Shanghai Novel”, “New Shanghai Business”, “Morning News” and other newspapers as well as the liberation of network, Shanghai Joint Publishing, Shanghai Theatre, totally 11 newspapers, 4 magazines, one website, one publisher and one artistic troupes. Group adheres to scientific development and keeps double-digit growth and a total profit of more than 300 million yuan in 2006.
The Group insisted creative lead, creating many “first”: the first to resume industrial and commercial advertisement in China; the first to serialize novels in newspaper every day; the first to publish community news in the first page; the first to publish international news in the first page among the local newspapers; the first to found national newspaper abstracts; the first to obtain the title of municipal civilized unit among the print media in shanghai; the first to adopt four-time printing technology; the first to enter outer space in human history after its souvenir edition being taken into outer space by “Shenzhou VI”; the first to introduce e-paper of mankind; holding seventh consecutive cultural forum in Shanghai and has created an influential card for Shanghai.
Website: http://www.jfdaily.com
GHTime Code(s): 9f02c
Chemistry-free plates have already been extensively established as one of the vital, new improvements to make simpler plate making in commercial printers. Exclusion of the developer means that one of the main variables affecting image reliability vanishes. The expensive plate processor itself is no longer needed. All these benefits are significant to the newspaper printers who are looking to streamline, simplify and decrease costs.
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