Agfa Graphics

A glimpse of the excitement and bustle of Graph Expo, with interviews of some of the in-plant managers in attendance.

DESPITE ALL the talk in the industry of virtual proofing, Ken Johnson still thinks customers prefer a proof they can hold in their hands. “Their eyes gloss over [when proofing] on the computer screen,” says Johnson, director of Printing Services at Ball State University, in Muncie, Ind. His in-plant uses Kodak’s MatchPrint ProofPro software along with Screen USA’s Trueflow workflow. Proofs are printed on a MatchPrint ProofPro 2610 ink-jet printer. But out at Western Growers, in Irvine, Calif., Robert Delgado feels much differently. His in-plant e-mails PDF proofs to customers, and he says they have been satisfied with the arrangement. Proofs always match the

Despite posting a 27 percent increase in profits for the second quarter, Agfa-Gevaert said it would eliminate as many as 2,000 jobs—roughly 14 percent of its workforce—to further cut costs. Of the total, 945 employees at its Brussels plant (25 percent of the workforce) would be let go. More than 600 other jobs will be cut in Europe, along with 430 in other parts of the world. The cuts will reportedly save Agfa $320 million a year by 2008. More than 40 percent of that savings will come from its health care unit.

IN-PLANTS DEPEND heavily upon the skills of a few key individuals to remain productive: production managers, bindery operators, prepress technicians, computer systems managers, or any number of other specialized personnel that are a part of the print production workflow. When one or more of these people are absent, the whole workflow may suffer. Many in-plants are turning to workflow systems to help mitigate this problem. Workflow systems help to standardize how we process jobs. When we rely on key individuals, we are depending on them to remember what they did last time to solve a problem, or how to most efficiently move a job

Agfa-Gevaert has been split into three independent businesses—Graphics, HealthCare and Materials. The new business, Materials, will group all of the film manufacturing activities with the niche products of Specialty Products and will be positioned as an independent supplier of film and related products. According to the company, the new structure will give each business the maximum flexibility to implement its growth strategy and to further reduce costs. Agfa-Gevaert anticipates annual cost savings of an estimated 250 million Euro by 2008. Agfa Graphics will continue to provide prepress solutions and service, and will expand in industrial inkjet and emerging markets.

Agfa The Acento II four-up CtP system brings thermal plate imaging in two versions: the Acento II E model and the high-productivity :Acento II S. Acento II images all thermal digital plates sensitized for 830 nm lasers, including Agfa’s :Thermostar Plus, the new :Energy range of plates, as well as chemistry-free :Azura and developer-free :Amigo. The Avalon family of thermal plate­setters offers increased convenience, reliability and functionality and features Agfa’s new Avalon HD Imaging Head. The Avalon comes in five basic configurations with throughputs ranging from 10 plates per hour (pph) for the LE model to 40 pph for the XXT model. The

Agfa Corp. The Sherpa family of piezo ink-jet proofing systems combines a range of print engines with AgfaJet proofing base, dye- and pigment-based inks and a color management system. Grand Sherpa 50 and 64 (50˝/64˝) are 8-color machines with a 1,440x1,440 dpi maximum resolution. The 7-color Sherpa 24m and 44m offer 720-dpi resolution. Sherpa 43i and 62i offer fast contract proofing at 720 dpi. SherpaMatic 43 and Grand SherpaMatic offer dual-sided proofing. Grand Sherpa M is a new 7-color proofer that uses dye-based inks. The Grand SherpaMatic imposition ink-jet proofer has adjustable paper width up to 50˝, modes for single or double-sided printing, variable resolutions and controllable

Agfa ApogeeX 3.0 workflow software is based on PDF, JDF (Job Definition Format) and Digital Film. Featuring a single, easy-to-use user interface, it offers a range of capabilities. Provides extensive process automation and connectivity features. Apogee PrintDrive enables integration with non-Agfa workflow solutions and output systems. New step-and-repeat function requires a page to be RIPed and trapped only once. Apogee Raster Blaster helps integrate most non-Agfa output devices into workflow. Apogee Power Converter converts legacy formats to PDF. :Delano 2.6 project management system offers extended JDF connectivity. It offers better support for spot colors, an improved user interface and faster system responsiveness.

MORTSEL, BELGIUM--Agfa Graphic Systems has announced double-digit price increases on a global level for its prepress consummables, effective immediately. The price boosts for printing plates and films will vary from region to region. The manufacturer cited soaring prices for silver and aluminum, along with high energy and transportation costs, as the reason behind the increases.

CTP has revamped the prepress department at brokerage firm A.G. Edwards. By Bob Neubauer WHEN A.G. Edwards' print shop fired up its new Presstek Dimension 400 and Mitsubishi Silver DigiPlate computer-to-plate systems in the spring of 2004, it was a monumental change for the St. Louis-based operation. Up until then, the 35-employee shop had been using its camera to shoot film. "We knew from an efficiency standpoint that [CTP] was where we needed to be," says Sue Weiss, vice president of General Services. This was never more apparent than when the in-plant tackled one of its most cumbersome jobs, a directory of company