Indore pre-press house VG Graphics installs ThermoStar T9, adds thermal to its bouquet of multi-plate trade services

Indore has about 250 print and packaging companies, three of whom have in-house pre-press facility. VG uses all the three processes – violet, thermal and CTCP to produce around 18,000 sqm per month.

Fully equipped with two violets and a CTCP system, the addition of Thermostar T9 was a perfect choice for VG Graphics to increase plate production without having to restructure its business. “We already have a Harlequin software, which is good enough for firing plates, files for which are received in the PDF format,” said Gopal Tiwari of VG Graphics. 

According to Tiwari, the demand for thermal plates among the packaging clients has been rising because of the output it has been able to deliver. “90% of our clients are from the packaging segment. The violet plates would print around 50,000 sheets, while the thermal plates are able to deliver 1.5-lakh impressions per run,” explained Tiwari. 
As a result, four of VG Graphics’ packaging clients who discontinued seeking its services, return to the fold. “There is another reason why thermal is being preferred,” said

Tiwari. “The difference in cost of producing plates with the two technologies is around Rs 250. Thermal plates cost that much more, but are able to produce more than double the print sheets. As a result, the plate cost of my customer is halved.”

While this has reduced the income of VG Graphics as the company now fires fewer violet plates, the proportionate increase in the thermal plate production more than compensates for the loss. “We used to produce 12,000 plates (around 4,000 sqm) per month. That’s down by 5,000 (around 1,700 sqm). But on the other hand, we have added 6,000 sqm (around 2,000) of thermal plate production per month,” said Tiwari. “I am satisfied, so are my customers.” 

The Thermostar T9 can image up to 40 eight-up plates per hour and can go up to 45 plates of smaller sizes. The platesetter can accept maximum plate size of 1163x940-mm and has an exposing size of 1163x920-mm.

“The T9 is a more accurate device, and much more reliable. We have not experienced nor expect to have any breakdowns. We have TechNova as our service provider, which has been supporting us both with the commercial as well as technical aspects. TechNova supplies thermal plates of different sizes are available locally. That’s just good for any plate service provider,” concluded Tiwari.