At the beginning of August, Parmentier Imprimeurs located in Wantzenau in the Bas-Rhin replaced its chemically developed CTP with a Kodak Achieve 800 MCU thermal CTP. The offset and digital printing company also adopted Kodak Sonora processless plates and Kodak's Prinergy workflow.
"It's a complete break for us and prepress is an important step in the production chain." says Jean-François Weber, the head of the Alsatian printing plant, which has a turnover of 4.9 million euros for 2019. "But the change was very easy and I quickly forgot the old CTP in the production circuit and in my daily constraints."
The 27-strong company, which is equipped with a Heidelberg CD 102 5-colour + acrylic varnish offset press and an SM 32 45, has an automatic drawer for large-format plates and a cassette for smaller formats with this CTP Achieve 8-up CTP.
One supplier, more than just a reseller
If the switch to chemistry-free plate technology was necessary, the printer also wanted to change suppliers. "In our business, a supplier must be a partner and not just a reseller. And all the more so in this sanitary context. He must be able to react quickly to the requirements for the care and maintenance of the machines. And in the face of the failure of certain other players, Kodak meets and will meet these expectations."
He goes on to say: "And Kodak is its own plate maker, which is produced in Germany, close to home. It's not an Asian import, which, with this covid phase, could run out of stock or supply."
The arrival of the Kodak Achieve 800 CTP also helped to optimize the workshop. The floor has been redone and the space reorganized to make it more comfortable for the teams and better adapted to the circulation of media and printing plates, from supply to delivery.
