J Thomson installs Screen platesetter following double Speedmaster buy

J Thomson Colour Printers has upgraded its pre-press setup with the installation of a new Screen PlateRite 8800Z platesetter, following its recent acquisition of two Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 105 presses.

Allan Harrop, pre-press director at J Thomson, said that the PlateRite machine, which comes equipped with an autoloader and 300-plate cassette, would replace a six-year-old Creo platesetter at the Glasgow-based colour printer.

"We've moved from being able to produce 18 plates an hour to 42 plates an hour on the new device," he added.

"The obvious choice was to go again with Kodak but I have had Screen equipment in the past and been absolutely delighted with the reliability."

The company is currently running Fuji's LHPJE thermal plates, although it is considering a switch to processless plate production.

Harrop said: "We're looking at Fuji's processless plate at the moment, the Pro-T.

"We've done some trials and we've got some stock in just in case we have any processor issues, but they're too expensive to use on a day-to-day basis at the moment."

J Thomson has also recently upgraded to the latest Epson 4880 plotter and, according to Harrop, will "probably upgrade [its] Epson 9800 shortly".

Also see:
J Thomson buys SM XL 105 pair in £5m spend