Fill Your Own Plates

By comparison, the DPM 2000 produces poly plates at $2 each, McCord says. And instead of sending out 200 to 300 negatives—and risking quality problems and decreased cycle time—the in-plant can now manage everything internally.

"It has given us higher quality by replacing our generation-loss problems of sending the negatives out," says McCord, manager of the print shop/mail center. He points out that since he became manager three years ago, business has increased by 300 percent. This year, the in-plant will do $600,000 in profit—up from $150,000 in 1995. Investment in CTP was a primary factor in the increase, McCord claims.