CTP - Computer to Plate

NELA Exhibits at drupa 2008

For drupa 2008, NELA has chosen the motto „Pre-press to Press Automation“. The company which headquarter is based in Germany will present a complete range of products which close the gap between CtP-room and press while ensuring absolute quality control.

Wednesday 30. April 2008 - For drupa 2008, NELA has chosen the motto "Pre-press to Press Automation". The company which headquarter is based in Germany will present a complete range of products which close the gap between CtP-room and press while ensuring absolute quality control.

During live demonstrations on NELA’s booth, Drupa visitors will experience that total automation of the pre-press area has truly become reality: imaged, punched and bent plates are delivered at the right time directly to the right press cylinder. Paper waste, delays caused by wrongly mounted printing plates and problems to adjust color register on press are eliminated. Peak production times in the pre-press area can be planned more efficiently by pre-producing and storing plates. A continuous register control, from the printing plate to the printed paper, is guaranteed.

With the VCPevolution Flexx , NELA presents the most flexible model of its newest generation of punch/benders. The universal register punching and bending system is capable of processing different plate formats with varying punching and bending configurations. It meets the highest expectations of printers who are using several presses and have, so far, needed a separate bender for each.

Integrated into the VCPevolution Flexx, NELA shows the fully automatic quality measuring system PQM+. An imaged multi-field wedge (developed in co-operation with UGRA) is used to measure the imaging and developing quality for each individual printing plate. Deviations in the image quality which may lead to low-quality printing results are detected and analyzed at an early stage in the production process. Plates with inadequate image quality are automatically ejected from the system after the punch/bender. The following data are measured, recorded according to ISO 12647-3, and shown on the computer screen: CtP-curve, laser energy, focus, fogging, and deviations between target and actual values.

NELA’s LogiStack System with PlateFlow Software offers continuous automation from the pre-press department to the printing press. The LogiStack plate manager makes delivery of offset plates to the press more efficient. Imaged, punched and bent offset plates can be stored and delivered to the press according to the production plan, at the requested time and in the required sequence. Production peaks are avoided, press stand-stills eliminated through shorter and optimized plate mounting times. – NELA offers LogiStack systems for both commercial and newspaper printers.
The NELA PlateFlow Software receives the print jobs and the plate assignment for the press from an upstream computer system, mostly from the press control system. At the PlateFlow terminal, the user may call up each print job at any time and check whether it is completed. The printing plates for this job are released by the LogiStack plate manager when requested and are transported to a NELA stacking system located either in the pre-press department, or directly at the press.

The vertical plate transport system PlateElevator delivers punched and bent printing plates to the desired building floor – transport of plates by hand is eliminated. – At drupa, NELA will show how plates are transported from the punch/bender or LogiStack system to the upper level of its booth.

NELA offers the fully integrated register control, complemented by Press Lock-Ups which provide correct register for web-width reductions and press modifications.

The NELA product range is completed by sortation stackers for offset plates and Magnetic Cylinders for label and flexographic printing, both of which are also on display at drupa.