The Belgian printer Drukkerij Paesen has further extended its prepress facility in partnership with Kodak, resulting in more efficient production and substantial savings in ink usage, leaving more room to focus on speed, quality and cost.

Drukkerij Paesen, which is based in Opglabbeek, a community in the Belgian province of Limburg, produces commercial printing for businesses and local authorities, ranging from business cards and brochures to stapled and sewn stitchbooks, as well as various types of promotional printing. The family-owned company, which is now run by three brothers, has invested in upgraded technology recently with the installation of the KODAK MAGNUS Q800 Platesetter, the choice of KODAK TRILLIAN SP Plates and the implementation of KODAK COLORFLOW Software with the KODAK Ink Optimizing Solution, production has become even more efficient and substantial savings in ink usage have been achieved.

Drukkerij Paesen opted to invest in the KODAK MAGNUS Q800 Platesetter due to the recent acquisition of a four-colour KBA HR UV press, which has enabled the company to operate smaller and frequently changing runs and work to shorter lead times. Guy Paesen, Managing Director, said: “We process over a hundred plates a day in our printing shop, which means we need a very fast and reliable platesetter. Thanks to its maximum of five cassette trays, this new 8-page CTP thermal platesetter is capable of processing an input of up to 500 plates completely automatically. This platesetter just keeps on running when everyone has gone home – up to fifty plates can now be run off in just a couple of hours if required. As an example, we receive the files for a weekly publication once a week at around 3 p.m. and the plates are ready at 4.30 p.m. Printing and finishing is completed that evening, and we deliver the following day.”

Drukkerij Paesen has also decided to use KODAK TRILLIAN SP Plates. These non-ablative, negative working, thermal plates are highly resistant to UV ink and suitable for conventional presses as well as the new UV press. As well as boasting good resistance to corrosive plate chemicals such as UV inks, the KODAK TRILLIAN SP Plate also reduces chemical consumption by up to 70%, which lowers cost and reduces impact to the environment. “Whereas in the past, making the sensitive layer of the plate more resistant to chemicals was to the detriment of print quality, this is not the case with KODAK TRILLIAN SP Plates”, claimed Guy Paesen. “We also produce long runs without baking the plates.”

As UV ink is expensive, up to three times the price of conventional inks, Drukkerij Paesen has also invested in KODAK Ink Optimizing Solution. This enables the same high print quality to be achieved with less ink coverage, meaning lower ink consumption and hence reduced costs. Put simply, the KODAK Ink Optimizing Solution cuts back on cyan (C), magenta (M) and yellow (Y) ink coverage and makes up for it with more black (K), resulting in the same good colour and print quality but with less ink coverage and therefore lower cost. Guy Paesen commented: “If we can save ink in this way we will notice it immediately. I know we will recover the investment in this software within a very short timeframe.”

“The introduction of colour management into the printing shop is probably the least expensive investment, but may well be the most significant in terms of return on investment”, said Kristof Vanden Bussche, Commercial Solutions Account Manager, Benelux, at Kodak. “KODAK PRINERGY WORKFLOW and COLORFLOW Software, including the Kodak Ink Optimizing Solution, are the building blocks of colour management at Drukkerij Paesen.”

Kodak and Drukkerij Paesen have expended a great deal of joint effort in order to arrive at the optimum colour management system in the printing house. Kristof Vanden Bussche continued, “We introduced a training programme with our team using coated and uncoated paper grades. This is because introducing colour management into a printing house is not just a matter of plug and play – it can’t be achieved overnight. Experience needs to be gained and a reference framework created in order to analyse the results correctly. Hats off to the people at Drukkerij Paesen who succeeded in implementing it in production within a relatively short timeframe. Impressive results were achieved, especially with the uncoated paper grades. Photos retain their strong colours and contrast, while solid colours are consistent within print runs and from one to another.”

Guy Paesen continued: “Ideally, the proof with the customer should be identical to what rolls off the press, without requiring the printer to make too many adjustments. The trick is to achieve a balance such that quality is predictable and constant on UV as well as conventional presses. It is thanks to the Kodak Ink Optimizing Solution that we are able to achieve this and it makes quite a difference in ink consumption and hence in cost.”

It all fits in with the overall vision of Drukkerij Paesen, which amounts to extracting the optimum from production. Guy Paesen concluded: “Our focus is on speed, quality and cost. By producing more efficiently and consuming less ink, we are able sharpen up our calculations and offer high-grade printing at very competitive prices.”