GSA wins Fairfax CTP plate contract

The new deal is important for GSA as it is the first major CTP plate contract it has signed with a daily metro in its 18-month history.

“It means that GSA will be the sole supplier of CTP plates to Fairfax Printers at Chullora,” said Warren Hinder, GSA national newspaper specialist (pictured on left with Peter Cooper and Paul Peters of Fairfax Printers). “This print facility is one of the most important newspaper printing sites in the region so to secure the contract for the supply of CTP plates is a significant achievement.

“The scale of this contract demonstrates that not only do we have the right product for the market but that we also have all the necessary infrastructure in place to service major clients such as Fairfax. The fact that we have warehousing facilities in all major states gives us the capacity to support our customers wherever they are,” he said.

The CTP line is one of five plate lines at the Chollora site. The others use imagesetter and film. The price differential between CTP and conventional plates still works against a complete acceptance of the 'stright to plate' technology.

Processing benefitsM

The finalising of the contract follows exhaustive tests carried out by Fairfax on the Brillia LPN-NN2 visible light plates. Paul Peters, technical and operations analyst at Fairfax Printers, said the test results demonstrated that the main benefits of the plates were in the plate processing.

“The plates recorded good chemical mileage and low build-up in the processors over time. That means less cleaning and maintenance of equipment and fewer resources required to carry out that maintenance,” he said.

The fact that the plates use less developer in the processing was also desirable for reasons of environmental sustainability because it meant that there is less chemical product requiring disposal.

“It is also beneficial from a OH&S perspective because the chemicals are very clean with low odour and are less likely to cause skin irritation,” said Peters.

Another benefit of the Fuji plates is that they can be imaged at lower exposure levels which means that less power is required to produce them and the working life of the CTP lasers can be prolonged.

“The plates are also price-competitive and their performance on the press was comparable to other plates,” he said..

Clean running

According to Warren Hinder, the green benefits of the Fuji product are testimony to Fujifilm’s efforts in developing sustainable environmental practices.

“These are important issues for the industry and for companies such as Fairfax. The fact that Fuji has developed such a clean running product is a definite advantage, not only for the environment, but also for printers where the pressure is on to reduce wastage,” he said.

The new contract with Fairfax also demonstrates the compatibility of Fuji plates with third-party CTP systems. Fairfax Printers where Agfa systems are in place.

“Fujifilm are investing huge sums in plate R&D each year as well as in new plate production lines. The fact that a company such as Fairfax has carried out its own tests on the Fuji product and found that it can deliver measurable benefits to them confirms Fuji’s reputation as a leading innovator in plate products,” he concluded.