Prepress
UK Greetings becomes greener with Fujifilm HD LH-PJE plates and ZAC processor
Monday 19. May 2008 - Huge reduction in chemical consumption 12hours less time each month spent cleaning processor
Fujifilm today announces that UK Greetings, a greeting card publisher, designer and manufacturer and a subsidiary of American Greetings, the largest publicly owned greeting card company in the world, has switched to Fujifilms Brillia HD LH-PJE thermal plate and ZAC processor to print over 3 million cards per week in the UK.
Paul Saunders, pre-press manager at UK Greetings, says: “There were several main factors that influenced the move to Fujifilm and these included a next day consumable delivery, the consistency of plate product, the commercial deal offered by Fuji and positive feedback regarding Fuji and its plates from online user groups and customer site visits.
“We are new to using Fujifilm as a supplier and we really felt that Fujifilm was keen to work with us to give us exceptional service and quality – with both the products and its customer service.”
UK Greetings prints alcohol-free using UV inks, creating a harsh environment on press. The Fujifilm plate has proved to be much more stable on press than the product UK Greetings was previously using. The company is also in the process of calibrating the plate to enable it to move from printing using 175lpi to 280lpi.
Paul continues: “We have seen a huge reduction in chemical consumption, which has improved our environmental footprint. Also, we were spending four hours per week cleaning the processor, this is now down to just four hours per month.”
Environmental issues are very important to UK Greetings. Previously, UK Greetings was using a silver halide plate emulsion, which was producing waste containing heavy metals.
Paul adds: “We are really pleased with the quick and positive response weve had from the team at Fujifilm who have been very accommodating. In particular, the technical manager in charge of the installation has been excellent. Additionally, a request from UK Greetings for Fujifilm to supply bulk-packed plates to remove cardboard packaging waste has quickly been accommodated.”
UK Greetings is imaging the Brillia HD LH-PJE plate on a new Screen platesetter.
With its head office and main manufacturing unit based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire and various creative and distribution sites based across the UK and Europe, UK Greetings has over 3,000 employees and has 14,000 UK accounts. The company has annual sales in excess of £130 million with its main card brands including Camden Graphics, Carlton Cards, FMN, Hanson White, Gibson Greetings. The company offers a wide range of products including greeting cards, gift-wrap, social stationery and Plush cuddly toys.