Graphic Arts — Customer Successes

Switching to Polyester Plates Brought Gregory Press To A New Level

Gregory Loessel needed to get his costs down fast, but he had a hard time believing a polyester platesetter could handle the high quality, short-run, process color printing he planned to turn out on his new 4-color press. After twenty successful years in the print business, Mr. Loessel was struggling. He had just invested in a new Hamada B452 4-color press, but the process color jobs just weren’t coming in.

"We were using metal plates and film, but we weren’t getting the work because our bids were too high,” said Mr. Loessel. “Between the plate, the film and the color proof, our pricing was not competitive and kept us out of the market. We were barely making our payments on the press.” Six months later, things turned around and Gregory Press was churning out fifteen jobs a day on the Hamada presses. The work “was just flowing in."

Yes, You Can Run A 4-Color Press With Polyester

Mr. Loessel visited a shop that was running polyester plates on the Hamada. “Once I saw the DPX System in action that was it. It was a no-brainer. I came back that day and bought one.” With the DPX System, Gregory Press was able to save over 80% on plate and proofing costs. This enabled them to reduce prices to market levels.

Customers – mostly print brokers – couldn’t tell the difference between jobs run on metal or polyester plates, but they certainly appreciated the cost savings and flexibility that only the DPX System can deliver.

The DPX System makes short-run, process color viable by providing high quality CTP platemaking at a fraction of the cost of metal. It helps small to midsize printers stay in business and turn a healthy profit.

"The DPX System and Hamada are so seamless together, it’s like getting up in the morning and breathing,” said Mr. Loessel. “We don’t do anything special. Just pop the plates on the press and run.” The same DPX System has performed flawlessly for more than seven years. Mr. Loessel can’t recall ever returning a roll of material or producing a bad plate. “Because of the DPX System, we were able to make our money back on the press quickly."

The DPX System Feeds Every Press

A shop workhorse, the DPX System feeds the eight presses Mr. Loessel owns. In 2007, he added another DPX – the all new DPX 2 – to boost production. Now his DPX System serves as a backup to his new DPX 2 platesetter.

The DPX 2 offers upgrades to the DPX System, which is the industry standard for polyester computer-to-plate (CTP) technology. Sporting an internal drum for high-resolution imaging and image-to- punch for consistent and accurate registration, the DPX 2 produces imaged, punched, press-ready plates in minutes. It’s also RoHS-compliant, which means it meets new European Union standards for eco-friendly electronic equipment.

"The DPX 2 is reliable. We only do trade work, and the DPX does everything we ask it to. In today’s market you can never be down. Your customers don’t want to hear that your machine is broken."

"We Love our Workflow"

In November 2006, Gregory Press purchased Mitsubishi Imaging’s workflow automation software. Combined with Mitsubishi’s Diamond Jet proofing, the automated workflow system has streamlined prepress, reduced mistakes, and dramatically lowered proofing costs. Now Gregory Press uses the same RIP for the proofer and the platesetter, which means no more missing font problems on the plate. If it’s right on the proof, it will be right on the press.

CIP3 support allows the shop to print accurate colors on press by automatically setting ink densities for a print run.

You’re Invited To Visit His Shop

Producing more than 3,000 plates per month, Gregory Press has been able to attract a lot of new customers. Mr. Loessel questions how printers can survive today without switching from metal to polyester. He is so convinced that polyester trumps metal that he invites other printers to visit his shop to see the polyester CTP system in action.

"I had a printer in here the other day and he didn’t believe we could run a 4-color process job off of the Mitsubishi platesetter. When he saw the quality of the jobs and how many we were producing, he changed his tune completely."

Why the hesitation? He said that many manufacturers fail to deliver on their promises, requiring extra equipment and services just to make technology work as promised. Mitsubishi Imaging made success easy by providing the right technology and the support to back it up.

"When you spend this kind of money, you can’t make a mistake. It can sink your whole business.” He said, “The DPX is a keeper. If you don’t get one of these units, I don’t know how you can stay in business."

Gregory Press is currently looking for a larger facility to house its growing business, which grew 33% from 2006 to 2007.