Flash Print puts the pedal to the metal with a brand new CRON CtP install, bringing the business up to scratch with full automation. Handled by Melbourne team at Currie Group, the state-of-the-art automatic plate-setter is already saving Flash Print money and driving business for small Collingwood print shop.
Upgrading from a DPX system, the new CRON CtP 3616 boasts complete inline automatic plate punching and chemistry-free NES plate cleanout system for hassle-free, streamlined production efficiencies. The CRON takes Flash Print back to metal, after a 13-year sidestep into polyester with the DPX, and according to Ron Andrew, owner and managing director, Flash Print, the move has set them up for a busy year ahead.
“It’s a tough market out there at the moment, and this has equipped us very well for it. We’d been running polyester plates since 2000, but technology has moved on and it was time to step up. It’s actually freed us up a lot, because it’s fully automatic we can just load up a pallet of plates and let it run, and it’s the only machine that we know of that has the inline punching,” said Andrew.
Set up by Ron and wife Jacqui Andrew in 1989, Flash Print has traditionally run a lean and focused operation to cut a niche in quality craft work. Pounding through around 28 plates an hour with its fully automate loading system, the CRON has suped-up the Flash Print arsenal, allowing its hardworking team to stay competitive and meet tight turnarounds. With automation taking the pressure off, Andrew is now able to reinvest time into sales and service.
Speaking with Print21 Andrew said, “It’s the perfect fit for our business. It’s been in now for about three months and we’re very impressed. We’ve been dealing with the guys at Currie since 2000, when we picked up that first DPX CtP and they’ve always been great to work with. Now we’ve just taken the next step with CRON. We’re very happy.”
The CRON rounds out a busy shop floor running two Shinohara presses, a five-colour and a four-colour, and a stack of finishing kit including a Horizon stitcher-trimmer, three-knife trimmer and perfect binder.
Bernie Robinson, managing director, Currie Group, weighed in on the install saying, “Ron and Jacqui over at Flash Print have been great to work with over the years. I’ve got to know them both well, and it’s great to have the opportunity to help them move the business forward with this new unit.”
Robinson adds that the CRON’s automation and imaging capabilities made a compelling case for Flash Print to make the upgrade. The CRON CtP 3616 takes up to 50 plates in one load, from a min. size of 240 x 320mm up to 925 x 670mm, and delivers image resolution of up to 3000 dpi, offering greater precision and quality than the superseded polyester system.
According to Robinson, the NES plate cleanout system is also a huge money-saver for the business.
“When it came to cleaning the old DPX they were going through something like 19 litres of activator and stabiliser. The CRON’s thermal washout unit just runs on water, so there are no chemistry issues anymore,” says Robinson.
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