TECHWATCH tm: Home Run for Plate Output

The print industry has some amazing automation stories, some of them hidden from the casual observer. One case in point is the process of getting plates onto the press. Yes, yes …autoplate from Heidelberg clocks in at seven minutes, and Komori lays claim to loading plates on press in as little as four minutes—all to great advantage on press. But what about getting plates processed, punched, bent and readied for the autoplate systems? Some amazing accomplishments in this area have been achieved by an American company: Burgess Industries.

An example of plateroom automation was presented at the June NAPL R&E Applied Technology Conference in Atlanta. Brenda Brown, prepress manager at book printer Malloy, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI, shared statistics that a single plate room operator delivers 15,000 finished and bent plates a month press-side, in fully automated fashion. This is accomplished by combining two Screen Ultima platesetters (one model 32000 and one model 16000) integrated to a Burgess plate transport, inspection, punching, bending and plate indexing loading system.

“Malloy used Burgess' existing plate conveyor technology to tie together the platesetters, processors and SuperBenders,” Brown reported as she showed videos of the live delivery automation. To eliminate the need for operator handling, Malloy worked with Burgess to design a post-bending plate indexing and transport system. Starting in fall 2004 and continuing over a six- month time span, Malloy reconfigured 6,000 sq. ft. of space to accommodate the new equipment.

To view this technology in action click here

Virtually everything is touchless in this workflow, except when a defective plate is detected. Then, the plate storage area in the indexing transport cart is left blank. The operator intervenes to recall and replay one of eight format sizes for the replacement. The system also integrates Burgess Plate Management Software with Malloy's proprietary MIS system software designed for pulling plate scheduling, queuing and matching. Significantly, this is all done without waiting for JDF and is made with off-the-shelf hardware—an excellent example of appropriate technology automation resulting from teaming with vendors.

Since completing the transition in the spring of 2006, Malloy reports great success with its plate automation plan, experiencing ongoing “lights-out” running 24/6 with two automated and redundant platemaking/handling lines—and a single operator commanding both. Malloy produces $40 million in annual volume, most of it books, and makes up to 15,000 thermal CTP plates monthly. The company uses no auxiliary plate benders at press side and integrates to its enterprise planning system to “pull” plate scheduling, keeping work in process low.

The system permits plate materials to be generated and used much closer to press time, and ultimately to time of invoicing. Less plate handling also increases adaptability for last minute job re-scheduling, since plates head to the assigned press just in time for the run. Handling plate imaging down to the wire means extra time for clients to send in final project revisions.

Automation has also enabled Malloy to cut waste related to register issues by 75%.