PRINTING PLATE UPDATE -- New Precious Metal

BY MARK SMITH

Technology Editor

Given all the debate about the technology of coatings in recent years, one might think printing plates are an exception to the rule that it is what's below the surfaces that really matters. One thing almost all of the solutions, even analog plates, have in common, though, is an aluminum base. Polyester plates are the exception, of course.

This commonality in printing plates hit home earlier this year when vendors notified customers of price increases due to the rising cost of raw materials. Aluminum prices reportedly have risen some 40 percent over the past two years, and higher energy prices have compounded the problem.

"Aluminum represents more than half the cost of a litho plate, and production efficiencies cannot offset the magnitude of the increase in aluminum prices," points out Jack Wiethoff, staff vice president for plates at Kodak Polychrome Graphics (KPG).

Matters were made worse for plate manufacturers by Alcoa's decision to exit the litho aluminum market, says John O'Rourke, director of CTP products at Presstek Inc. "The net result of Alcoa's departure is we have to manage our supply chain much more diligently," he explains.

O'Rourke sees this situation as analogous to the crude oil market. "It's a commodity product that has a standardized global price and availability," he says.

In the case of aluminum supply, it is effectively fixed due to the capital expenditures and construction lead time required to add capacity, adds Jim Crawford, group manager, consumables, at Enovation Graphic Systems. The outlook is now more promising because plate manufacturers are forecasting demand to aluminum suppliers on a longer timetable, Crawford believes. This should lead to greater market stability, he says.

KPG's Wiethoff is not so optimistic about the short-term outlook. "Unfortunately, the cost of aluminum and petroleum have continued to increase since the January price increase. Unless there is a pullback of the cost of these two commodities, it is likely there will be a second round of industry-wide plate price increases," he says.

The dynamics are a little more complex for Heidelberg USA, since it doesn't directly manufacture any of the plates it co-develops and markets, points out Rick Boggess, director of consumables. "Manufacturers are telling us they have long-term aluminum contracts in place to ensure they have enough raw materials," he says. "However, they are holding distribution and OEM partners very tightly to their (demand) forecasts."

Areas of Dry Supply

Growth in worldwide CTP use is beginning to lead to tightening of supply in certain countries, continues Boggess. Actual plate manufacturing capacity isn't an issue, though, as capacity still exceeds the market demand, he adds.

Economies of scale and competitive pressure had been working in the favor of CTP users in recent years, observes Colleen Molkenbur, product manager, graphic arts consumables, at Mitsubishi Imaging (MPM). Digital plate prices dropped as the product options increased, Molkenbur says.

While digital may be the growth market, manufacturers of analog plates report they are still investing in that technology, too. Nonetheless, they generally only see limited potential in adapting cutting-edge digital plate technology, such as processless, for conventional exposure.

CTP production now accounts for more than 50 percent of the market in the United States and Europe, but the rest of the world is still in an earlier stage of the CTP conversion, points out KPG's Wiethoff. "We continue to dedicate a sizeable portion of our R&D budget to improving our analog plates," he says.

Agfa also continues to devote resources to its analog production line along with digital, says Susan Wittner, marketing director, North America. "Our focus is on evolutionary changes that increase our customers' productivity and pressroom performance," she says.

Enovation's Crawford sees a more bearish outlook for analog products given that many plate manufacturers ship more CTP plates than conventional. "Based on the sales growth and increasing demand for technology improvements within the CTP sector, R&D budgets need to be projected toward CTP products," he says.

Consolidation has been the other big story in the plate arena. This latest round is at least the second or third wave of an industry trend that dates back decades.

Plates are just a small part of the most recent announcement, which has Creo poised to become part of Kodak's Graphic Communications Group along side KPG—and others. Kodak Polychrome Graphics' full name already attests to a prior round of consolidations.

Since the deal has yet to be officially closed, Wiethoff says the company isn't in a position to comment on its implications for the move Creo made into plate manufacturing. The two companies continue to operate as competitors in the plate market, he adds. It's pure speculation at this point, but the prevailing wisdom is that acquiring Creo's plate capacity and products wasn't a big motivating factor for Kodak.

Agfa finalized its acquisition of Lastra in the second half of 2004 and has since been working to integrate the plate manufacturer's product line and capacity.

"From a portfolio perspective, the addition of the Lastra LT2 and NX brands complements our existing product line," notes Agfa's Wittner. "We are in the process of transitioning Lastra's visible light portfolio, which includes the LY-8 and LV-2 plates, to the Agfa portfolio of visible light digital plates—N91, N91V and Lithostar Violet."

As an interested observer of the deal making, Presstek's O'Rourke says he believes the business today is about converting analog customers to digital and securing that demand for a period of time. (Presstek did make its own acquisition, ABDick, but that didn't involve metal plate capacity.)

Consolidation also has come in other forms. Earlier this year, Printing Developments Inc. (PDI) sent out a notice saying its parent company, GenTek, had decided to cease all operations of PDI. This move followed close on the heels of Citiplate's announcement that it was shifting focus to solely manufacturing plates for other firms.

There may be reason to hope for a return to stability on the pricing and consolidation fronts, but that doesn't mean the plate market is going to get boring. All of the leading vendors seem to agree that processless technology really is poised to transform the industry.

According to O'Rourke, Presstek's Applause plate continues to be distinct in the marketplace by virtue of being truly process-free. Other commercially available products require some post-imaging operations, such as cleaning out with gum arabic or a water rinse step, he points out.

With the ABDick acquisition now finalized, the combined company is also offering the Freedom plate as an ABDick-branded product, O'Rourke adds. He describes the plate as a shorter run, sub-ablative variant of the Anthem technology. It is dedicated to the Vector TX platesetter.

Agfa currently is highlighting its Azura chemistry-free digital plate technology, says David Furman, Agfa's senior marketing manager, CTP Systems, North America. It uses patented ThermoFuse technology to physically bond images to the plate without any chemical processing, he explains. A clean-out and gumming step follows the non-ablative imaging process.

"We now have more than 150 customers using Azura worldwide. Many of them are long-time thermal platesetter users who wanted to eliminate processing. We're also seeing strong demand among first-time CTP buyers," Furman adds.

KPG currently is in test markets with its new Thermal Direct non-process plate, according to Wiethoff. "The plate is exceeding our expectations in the test markets," he says. It is slated to be fully launched later in the year.

The company continues to promote Sword Excel as an innovative thermal plate offering, Wiethoff continues. It also formally introduced the VioletNews plate for violet CTP applications in the newspaper sector and reportedly is moving forward with its plans for a commercial printing version.

Creo previously showed a processless plate, Clarus PL, as a "technology demonstration." However, the fate of that product is now an open question.

In terms of its Fujifilm plate offerings, Enovation Graphic Systems kicked off the year by introducing the Brillia LH-PJ thermal plate into the U.S. market, Crawford says. The thermal plate requires no pre-bake step and is processed by a developer station with low replenishment rates.

Plate News Upcoming

As for the no-process Fujifilm plate announced at Drupa 2004, Crawford says the company is "serious about pursuing this application, so commercialization announcements are pending. This product will be aluminum-based and have many operating features of existing Fujifilm thermal plates."

Responding to changes in the marketplace, including the trend toward shorter runs, Heidelberg is now looking to add a processless plate offering to its portfolio, Boggess says. "Two years ago, that wasn't in our plans, but now we are seeing a lot of low- to mid-range sheetfed customers wanting to move into processless technology."

The company also reportedly plans to introduce a traditional thermal product and will continue to offer its silver-halide Saphira violet plate. According to Mark Tonkovich, product manager for CTP, the advantages in staying with silver-halide technology include an extended lifespan for violet lasers (due to the lower energy requirements for imaging) and fast roll up on-press.

MPM's Molkenbur sees long-term economic and environmental trends pushing plate manufacturers toward processless, or at least reduced chemistry, technologies. But, she says vendors still need to overcome concerns about stability and limited platesetter options.

For now, Mitsubishi Imaging is focusing on its Silver DigiPlate polyester plate, Molkenbur reports. "With trends in the market pointing to shorter run lengths, we see SDP polyester plates as the ideal fit for many printers," she explains.

Konica Minolta introduced a processless system with a flexible, thermal plate material (TF-200) that is suitable for on- and off-line imaging systems. However, the initial roll out has been limited to an on-press application.

Although a special case from the rest, a final product that should be mentioned is the Aspen process-free plates designed for use with the Xanté Impressia CTP system. This non-photosensitive material can be imaged via "Radiant Exposure Technology" with no need for a subsequent rinse step.