Latest News
5 Year Contract With Agfa
STEPHENS & GEORGE SIGNS FIVE YEAR CONTRACT WITH AGFA FOR AZURA TU CHEMISTRY-FREE PLATES
The award-winning magazine and catalogue printer, Stephens & George, has signed a five year contract for Agfa’s Azura TU chemistry-free plates.
Stephens & George now has five of the latest multi-colour presses each capable of running at 18,000sph and, together with the AutoPlate changers, the demand for plates has increased by over 20%.
“The volume of plates required for these new presses meant we had to be in no doubt that we were investing in the best plate. The environmental impact of making plates is very important to us and our customers but other considerations, such as service and support plus the overall cost of plate production, were major factors in the decision making process,” explained Andrew Jones, managing director of Stephens & George.
As a high-volume plate user imaging over 22,000 plates per month, Agfa’s Azura TU chemistry-free plate system has played an important role in controlling the cost of plate production at Stephens & George.
“Chemical waste has been reduced from 19,000 litres per annum to just 400 litres of gum waste per month with the CX clean units requiring no mains water. Maintenance has also been reduced from 4 hours per week of valuable production time to clean a conventional plate processor to just half an hour with the CX gumming unit,” confirmed Jamie Awford, prepress manager at Stephens & George.
Stephens & George has many high profile customers which include the Haymarket Media Group and Christie’s, the auctioneers, whose exacting standards of reproduction are closely monitored by its in-house print procurement team.
“Establishing a strong working relationship with key suppliers such as Agfa allows us to focus on customer satisfaction and grow our business,” concluded Jones.
About Azura TU
Since the launch of the first Azura plate ten years ago, Agfa Graphics’ chemistry-free plates have been the leading technology in sustainable platemaking. With Azura TU, Agfa Graphics has expanded the reach of Azura to serve all sheet-fed commercial printers. Azura TU extends the run length up to 150,000 copies and higher sensitivity increases platesetter productivity whilst retaining the high quality, high robustness and excellent image contrast for which Azura is known.
