GLOBALWARE SOLUTIONS - Shining Light on CTP

BY MARK SMITH

Offering the whole kit and caboodle of services to the demanding software/high-tech industry is the stock and trade of GlobalWare Solutions in Haverhill, MA. It can be a high-pressure business. With software releases, developers are always trying to do one last bug check or tweak of the code before the CDs are duplicated, manuals printed and product boxes assembled. If it's a major release, anxious buyers have been known to line up at midnight at local computer stores to be the first to get their hands on the product. So the shipments have to be on time.

The need for quick turnaround puts pressure on industry suppliers to be state-of-the-art, but it also doesn't hurt to project the right image when dealing with high-tech companies. Being on the leading edge of technology can foster a degree of kinship with these clients, as well as provide the flexibility to meet their needs.

GlobalWare Solutions (GWS) has been an early adopter of new technology since it was founded in 1978 as a quick-turnaround, on-demand printer called ZBR Publications. The name change came after the company purchased Bindco Corp. last year, and is intended to reflect the broader scope of the combined organization, according to the original announcement.

"GWS is a vertically integrated service company providing global software contract manufacturing, digital content management and e-commerce solutions for the world's technological leaders," says Richard Langlois, vice president of business development. "We integrate our state-of-the-art software manufacturing services with our global supply chain capabilities and Web collaboration tools to provide a one-stop, value-added service for the global delivery of software and information."

The organization also has established a brand for its turnkey service, calling it the TotalWare Service Program. The program is said to consist of a vertically integrated, continuous flow manufacturing model under one roof, allowing maximum flexibility and control while reducing critical time to market. TotalWare encompasses e-commerce services, project management, data management, prepress, on-demand digital printing, sheetfed and web offset color printing, binding and finishing, CD-ROM replication, kit assembly, inventory management, distribution and fulfillment.

GlobalWare uses a combination of digital printing and optimized traditional offset production to provide on-demand services. Therefore, the promise of short makereadies and quick turnaround figured into the decision to move aggressively in adopting computer-to-plate production, reports Jack Cote, media services manager. The company first went CTP with its black-and-white work in 1996, and color capability soon followed. Enhanced image quality, improved registration and reduced costs (film and labor) are other benefits the company has reaped, Cote points out.

Staying With What Works
When it was ready to step up to color CTP capabilities, management opted not to just jump on the digital plate bandwagon, Cote says. Instead, GlobalWare has implemented computer-to-conventional plate (CTcP) technology from basysPrint Corp. Rather than using lasers and special plates, this system exposes conventional plates using UV light from a digitally driven imaging mechanism.

GlobalWare's Jack Cote checks the operation of the UV Setter 1116, one of three basysPrint computer-to-conventional-plate systems used by the company. The platesetters have a flatbed design and expose conventional plates using UV light.

The platesetters use an imaging technology the manufacturer calls Digital Screen Imaging (DSI). The heart of the system is a micro-mirror chip developed by Texas Instruments. The surface of this 2x2cm chip is covered with nearly 800,000 individually controllable mirrors that are about one-fifth the thickness of a human hair.

During imaging, UV light that hits each mirror is either projected onto the printing plate through an optical lens system or reflected away from it, thereby creating a screen image on the plate. Due to the limited size of the imaging system, individual pages/sections of the plate must be exposed in a series of steps. The manufacturer claims that this stepping is done with a maximum tolerance of +/-2µm.

In researching the devices, Cote says imaging quality was one of the biggest questions he had because of this stepping processes and the 1,500 dpi (175 lpi) resolution. However, GlobalWare hasn't had any dot alignment problems, he notes, and the overall image quality of its plates has been excellent. Cote has been particularly impressed by the smooth edges of the text.

According to basysPrint, the UV-Setter imaging system writes extremely small square pixels (10µm to 28µm, depending on resolution). These square pixels fit together precisely, unlike the overlapping round pixels created by laser exposure, the manufacturer claims. The result is said to be sharper images, even at low resolutions.

According to Cote, "basysPrint's solution offered the most flexibility. We could continue to use our existing conventional plates—which are 50 percent to 60 percent cheaper than thermal plates—with little or no impact on the pressroom. The system also makes it easy to change the workflow of a job from one press to another."

GlobalWare currently has three basysPrint platesetters installed in its East Coast facility. This includes a 67˝ UV Setter 1116 and two 44˝ models—UV Setter 710HS and 710/2. The larger model was required to support the plant's Timsons T32 web offset book press.

The three machines produce almost all the plates required for the range of sheetfed and web presses in the plant, which primarily prints manuals, retail packaging and CD jewel case inserts in up to six colors. Jobs sometimes get redirected to a different press, Cote says, if the requirements change, there is a problem with a press or just for load balancing purposes. The flatbed design, pin-based plate register and software interface of the basysPrint units make it easy to switch from one plate size to another, he asserts.

GlobalWare currently uses Kodak Polychrome Graphics V360 and Lastra Nitio Dev plates in its CTP workflow. The platesetter has a Rampage front-end, which also drives the plant's Presstek PEARLhdp digital color halftone proofer. Dylux proofers are exposed on the platesetters to verify position of copy, the imposition and trims prior to plating, according to Cote.

"Our experience with integrating the basysPrint machines into our workflow was almost seamless," he reports. "We produced our first five-color, heavy trap/coverage job within the first week of installation."

Taking it Global
Based on this success, Cote says GlobalWare is exploring adding CTP capabilities to its three other manufacturing facilities, which are located in Redwood City, CA; Guadalahara, Mexico; and Amsterdam. Its total manufacturing space exceeds 750,000 square feet.

Part of this space is devoted to digital on-demand printing, which the organization uses to produce short-run training manuals and other information products. According to Cote, the plant's mix of Océ and Xerox equipment is cost competitive for runs of up to 3,000 copies.

As a whole, the privately held company had total revenues exceeding $150 million in 2000, with printing sales contributing $39 million. GWS has a staff of more than 750 people worldwide, serving customers in the U.S., Europe, the Pacific Rim and South America.