DIGITAL PLATES — LESS IS MORE

Feedback Drives R&D
Feedback from both customers and field support helps drive the research and development efforts at Kodak, Wiethoff says. That also opens the door for improving existing products, such as the Sword Excel thermal plate.

“Sword is designed to work well with both IPA (isopropyl alcohol) and alcohol substitutes on-press,” Wiethoff says. “With its patented coating, we have been able to achieve better scratch resistance and longer run lengths without the need for preheat or post-baking. We recently enhanced the graining structure to reduce the ink/water settings to allow presses to run cleaner. We have also improved our preheat plates to provide more latitude and consistency for our customers.”