UK FIRST FOR ARCHIVIST
UK’s first Cron Flexo/letterpress CTP is the ideal match for matchbox printer
Following an installation by UK supplier SOS, Archivist Press in Wellingborough has become the first UK user of a Cron HDI-400 computer-to-plate system, designed to produce plates for flexo, and in this case, letterpress.
Archivist is a producer of traditional card-based products and uses Heidelberg letterpress machines – some more than 70 years old. They work with artists and designers to make unique and tactile print, most often with a retro style, its most popular products being greetings cards and packaging – especially matchboxes – which are sold globally. The matchboxes have become so popular, the company has had to source as many as a million matchsticks a week to fill them.
Studio Manager Jared Gonya says that the new Cron machine was needed to replace an ageing Esko platemaker which had reached the end of its working life. “We found that a direct replacement would be way too expensive,” he says. “Our plate supplier suggested we look at Cron as a more realistically priced machine.”
Jared says the productivity gains from using the new Cron are substantial. “Our daily platemaking rate has become our hourly platemaking rate! Our old machine was time consuming, it required some manual loading using tape, and the vacuum wasn’t always reliable. With the Cron, I just put the plate in the autoloader and press the button.”
“The Cron machine has integrated with our workflow, I just send PDF files to the RIP which creates 2,4000dpi TIFFs for output,” Says Jared. “SOS have been very helpful and responsive too.” The Cron machine is now a key part of Archivist’s 9-strong print operation which contributes around £570k to the company’s overall £6m annual turnover.
SOS supply a range of flexo/letterpress plates for the HDI, in this case Archivist chose 1.52mm Toyobo Printlight plates. The Cron HDI-400 has a maximum plate size of 430 x 560mm and a minimum of 100 x 100. Uniquely, the smaller plate sizes can be clamped and fed automatically. The machine is also equipped with a space saving internal ablation filter.
