Report from the CTP front #2 – Peter Carrigan, GSA, weighs in with heavy artillery

Before I risk life and ink (or megabytes) to address the address, critique the critique, or assess the assessment, I would like to open with a gambit – the customer is always right. This ancient sales adage is not an old philosophy from aging reps or from the 101 ways to close the deal sales manual for beginners – it is fact!

Today’s customers are well informed, very well informed. Not because of the stirring opinions or interpretations of others, but because they do their homework. They understand their business and have access to the facts, and that equals knowledge. There is a penchant for suggesting ‘confusion’ every time there is a technology debate and out of confusion the consultant is invariably born.

Come on guys let's give some credit to the customer.

The global information highway, chat rooms, ease of access to product information and apple for apple comparison data has empowered the customer with knowledge. With this knowledge comes the ability to differentiate between products and the tailoring of an ultimate decision to best suite the company. The customer’s job clearly, apart from deciding the direction, is to get the best deal and to feel secure in who will provide the servicing and supply. The only other concern is that customers have a right to expect their supplier to be financially sound

Back to the subject of fact vs fiction.

In our experience as a proud supplier of both photopolymer (violet/green) and thermal
hardware and consumables, we see photopolymer plates being faster to make than thermal plates. Our violet plate, with our violet CTP, is the fastest combination for commercial sheet-fed printers and trade suppliers in the industry. We see little or no differences in ‘run up to colour’, ‘dot consistency’ or any other on-press performance from either technology.

In respect to exposure, we have no doubt that again either plate can be subject to performance problems if not working in or under optimum conditions. Even under-exposed thermal plates can result in plate clean-out issues while over exposure can affect the highlight areas of an image. Like any product continual monitoring and quality control is the key to achieving consistent quality output.

With reference to Andy’s [McCourt] statement regarding Fujifilm Brilliant visible plate being silver based . . . well that is just wrong. Fujifilm has never produced a silver based plate product and is world leader in terms of environmental responsibilities and practices. Their green paper available on the Fujifilm web site home.fujifilm.com/info/environment/index.html has won world acclaim and is the benchmark for others striving for the same. At the risk of pushing our own barrow here (which is perhaps the wrong forum) Fujifilm chemistries are biodegradable and we do not suffer, as some of our competitors do, from the need of taking chemicals away and paying for disposal.

Our experience also suggests either technology works on press with similar characteristics as a conventional plate, although obviously both produce a sharper image and faster run up. We are even aware of printers using and mixing the technologies when buying from trade houses and their comments have been along the lines . . . they neither know nor particularly care which technology they were using – as long as it works!


Pricing is dictated by the market

As to the statement on pricing, well I can’t talk about the rest of the world but in our Australasian market, thermal and visible square meterage pricing is the same. The market conditions, negotiation skills and importantly the type of deal being discussed, dictate the pricing outcome. It is fair to suggest that when considering consumable purchasing all factors of the offer should be taken into consideration.

I am at somewhat of a loss to understand Andy’s comment regarding the short supply of violet or photopolymer plates. I would need to understand his rationale and his research methods to get my head around that one. Of our more than 50 visible-light installations across Australia and New Zealand, no one is complaining about supply. In fact, to support this statement and the obvious growth in this area Fujifilm have invested Euro 200 million on new plate manufacturing lines in USA and the Netherlands with additional modifications to existing lines in Japan.

http://home.fujifilm.com//drupa2004/index.html
We are currently supplying tens of thousands of square metres to the market place, so if you require stock Andy please give me a call personally.

With apologies to our thermal users, who must be enjoying or at least be bemused by the ‘battle’, I believe it is a little insulting (although without injury), to suggest that our current visible light users switch to thermal if they are an 8pp printer or trade house. The many installations
of our visible light technology and thermal in eight-up format are amongst the best in the world in terms of quality, production and efficiencies. Whether you are better suited to thermal or visible light is a research call.

So here is my call

• Study the facts and do the research.



• Tailor your purchase to suit your business



• Remember today’s technology investments are short-term depreciating decisions, as all companies have come to appreciate in terms of ‘best business practices.



• Look at what is on offer in its entirety.

Finally, and perhaps indicatively, I would like to congratulate all our customers who won at the recent South Australian PICA awards. It was very pleasing to see so many of our thermal and significantly photopolymer users, both large (8up) and medium (4up), win – some in record numbers – these industry and market recognised awards.

Oh, and by the way did I mention, we proudly, and without apology. sell thermal and visible light hardware and consumables?

Advance Australasia . . . fair!


Peter Carrigan,

General Manager

GSA

peter.carrigan@fujigsa.com


PS: Andy, in relation to your comments made to one of our technical people in Queensland and just to get the facts correct, the Melbourne Age is in fact photopolymer, not thermal.