Currie Group’s new thermal CTP Cron TP46

Australia’s first thermal CTP unit, a Cron TP46, has been installed at Print Group Australia with help from the Currie Group.

First shown to the local market at PrintEx, the Currie Group have been distributing the Cron TP46 for around four months.

Bernie Robinson, Managing Director for Currie Group says it has never been in the thermal market before, “so this is quite new for Currie Group. It brings us into a brand new market. We have over 150 visible light customers, which is the violet light, but the thermal gives you a longer run length and it is a drum unit.”

“The Cron TP46 uses thermal plates, which can allow a company to go chemical free or processing. Speed is a factor as it varies from 24 plates per hour to 36 plates per hour, and when you drop down the resolution you can get 74 plates per hour.

Currie Group’s first thermal Cron TP46 was purchased in February by Print Group Australia and installed the very same month. “It was our first unit, so I think negotiations went on for about four to six months,” says Robinson.

Pictured: Cron TP46 complete system

Chris Mullins, owner of Print Group Australia says installation happened over two to three days and it has been running well since. “It’s been a great move going into our own CTP, as we used to have it supplied by outside suppliers. It was a great initiative to have a CTP machine here in the factory.”

“We used to outsource everything before, so having the Cron has been a great advantage and investment. The downtime has gone from two hours for a plate from outside to 15 minutes at most.

“We saw results immediately, and now have control of our own destiny. We have the personnel who could go straight into it after a couple of hour’s tuition from Currie Group.

“We are basically a trade printer doing a lot of point of sale and heading into poster work. Workload has increased over the last three months due to the Cron, as it’s efficient in the quoting side. You can play with your quoting a bit more,” said Mullins.

With 13 years experience as an imagesetter manufacturer, Cron is able to ensure its CTP drum surface flatness is within 10 microns.