Kodak Crowns Decade of Innovation with Landmark Sale of 10,000th CTP Device

Kodak is celebrating a major achievement in its long history of prepress innovation with the installation of its 10,000th computer to plate (CTP) device, a KODAK MAGNUS 800 Platesetter at Joh. Enschedé Amsterdam.

Reaching this significant milestone further cements Kodak’s position of technology leadership in the world of thermal CTP. Doug Edwards, General Manager, Prepress Solutions and Vice President, Eastman Kodak Company, says, “Naturally, we are delighted to reach this landmark sales figure. It marks more than ten years of continuous development in CTP systems at Kodak, and we continue to be a market leader and innovator. We’re extremely proud of this achievement and of the role KODAK technology has played in transforming the efficiency of prepress operations at so many businesses around the world.”

Joh. Enschedé is part of the internationally renowned Royal Joh. Enschedé company, and high quality printing is an important part of the total service package offered by the business, which ranges from database management to fulfillment. Joh. Enschedé Amsterdam requires extremely high standards for both its security and commercial printing, and the updating of the company’s CTP system and its associated workflow, worth almost half a million euros, was preceded by an extensive testing process. According to Joh. Enschedé Amsterdam Managing Director Michel Vastenhout, the KODAK MAGNUS 800 Platesetter and KODAK PRINERGY Workflow System ultimately constituted “the ideal combination.”

Comprehensive market research and test process

Michel Vastenhout was appointed to his role at Joh. Enschedé Amsterdam one year ago, and he is proud of the company’s heritage. “We have been known for our quality and reliability for over three hundred years,” he notes. The printing house employs 90 staff and has all requisite ISO and FSC certification and also complies with standards for security printing and for the food industry. Vastenhout adds, “We are all-rounders, as well as being specialists in each segment.”

Seven years ago, Joh. Enschedé Amsterdam switched from conventional plate making to thermal CTP. Alex voor den Dag, Operations Director at the company explains, “At the time we started with a legacy KODAK workflow system and a KODAK LOTEM 800 Platesetter running KODAK ELECTRA EXCEL Plates, a combination which ran brilliantly for seven years. However, a replacement became necessary in view of all the developments in this area and so last year we started a comprehensive survey of the market: after all, it is not often that you face a decision which will be of great importance for the next seven years. We, therefore, started from scratch and embarked on a comprehensive test process with four potential prepress partners.”

Process stability enabling FM screening of overriding importance

The Amsterdam print house had a demanding list of requirements for the suppliers, based on the security printing aspects used at the company. “Through extensive demonstrations and testing processes, Kodak was able to prove time and again its ability to maintain process stability despite the normal variations that occur in the production process, an important win factor over other suppliers,” comments Voor den Dag. In addition to the resolution and stability provided by Kodak’s unique 10,000 dpi SQUARESPOT Imaging Technology, Quantum features such as temperature compensation, dynamic autofocus and machine to machine consistency help ensure absolute accuracy every time, enabling greater efficiencies in the pressroom and, as a result, a greater return on their investment. “We did a huge amount of testing with every type of security element. This places heavy demands on a platesetter, but the KODAK MAGNUS 800 Platesetter was found to be extremely reliable.”

Joh. Enschedé Amsterdam’s platesetter model is at F speed, which produces up to 22 plates per hour, but the MAGNUS 800 Platesetter is also available in other models reaching up to 40 plates per hour. Joh. Enschedé Amsterdam currently uses KODAK ELECTRA EXCEL Thermal Plates, and Alex voor den Dag is following developments in the field of non process plates with a great deal of interest.

The printing house uses three plate formats, so a multi-cassette unit was also a necessity. But it was the wish of Joh. Enschedé Amsterdam to work with FM screens that was of additional importance, as voor den Dag explains, “We believe in it one hundred percent and have the right portfolio for it.”

The optimum solution was found in KODAK STACCATO Screening, enabled by KODAK SQUARESPOT Imaging Technology. “FM truly is a real differentiator for us, but there are conditions attached to it, and this is where process stability was again of great relevance to us. It is unique in securing customers, especially if you think of work such as automotive brands or jewelry brochures,” adds Voor den Dag.

MAGNUS 800 Platesetter delivers speed, quality and reliability

The MAGNUS/PRINERGY system configuration has now been running for a few weeks and the implementation of the FM screening technology in the pressroom is also in process. Once the operators are fully familiar with the new system, this will be followed by the implementation of additional KODAK PRINERGY modules which will enable further automation of manual operations.

For the time being, the KODAK MAGNUS 800 Platesetter constitutes the crowning glory for Joh. Enschedé Amsterdam, following an extensive investment program of replacement, renovation and improvement. Alex voor den Dag is convinced that the right decision has been made with this investment, and states, “We only have one platesetter here, hence everything is dependent on the speed, quality and reliability of this machine. I am now certain in the knowledge that we can go forward again for another seven years.” The fact that Kodak’s 10,000th platesetter is now in Amsterdam is further confirmation of his choice: “Kodak’s excellence and innovation in this field makes me confident in our future success and I’m pleased to have such a milestone solution at our business.”

About Eastman Kodak Company
Kodak is the world’s foremost imaging innovator. With sales of $10.7 billion in 2006, the company is committed to a digitally oriented growth strategy focused on helping people better use meaningful images and information in their life and work. Consumers use Kodak’s system of digital and traditional products and services to take, print and share their pictures anytime, anywhere; Businesses effectively communicate with customers worldwide using KODAK solutions for prepress, conventional and digital printing and document imaging; and Creative Professionals rely on KODAK technology to uniquely tell their story through moving or still images.

More information about Kodak (NYSE: EK) is available at http://www.kodak.com.

For more information about Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group, visit http://www.graphics.kodak.com. For downloading photos from Kodak’s image library, visit: http://www.kodak.com/go/gcg_images.


(Kodak, Magnus, Lotem, Electra Excel, SquareSpot, Prinergy, and Staccato are trademarks of Eastman Kodak Company.)
2007