'Lo-chem' system comprising Brillia PRO-VN plates, Luxel News VMAX platesetter and FCF News processor reduces waste, saves money and enhances efficiency at French newspaper printer
L'Union de Reims, a French newspaper printer owned by the Rossel Group, recently invested in Fujifilm's dedicated newspaper plate production system, comprising two Luxel News VMAX platesetters, Brillia PRO-VN plates and two FCF News processors, to improve the performance of its production environment.
L'Union de Reims prints 10 newspaper editions every night, totalling 140,000 copies. In addition, it produces 50,000 copies for a few weekly magazines and 75,000 copies for the free press 'MAG CONSO'. The company is committed to introducing advanced technologies to maximise production efficiencies and provide readers with excellent quality newspapers.
William Carducci, technical director at L'Union de Reims, explains: "We visited Fujifilm's Tilburg manufacturing site for offset printing plates in The Netherlands and were impressed by the state-of-the-art and fully automated plant. The five wind turbines installed at the site, capable of generating approximately 20% of the total energy used by the factory and significantly reducing CO2 emissions, demonstrate Fujifilm's continuous investment in R&D and its capability to be at the forefront of pre-press technology. We immediately considered Fujifilm as a long-term partner to work with."
L'Union de Reims was searching for a productive, reliable and simple system to meet the tight deadlines typical of a newspaper environment without compromising on quality. William highlights: "Fujifilm's integrated 'lo-chem' newspaper system, which comprises Brillia PRO-VN plates, Luxel News VMAX platesetters and FCF News processors, was the perfect fit to deliver high quality newspaper plates at fast production speeds."
With scalable productivity, robust design and high quality output capability, the Luxel News VMAX provides a complete solution via a choice of output speeds from 100 to 400 plates per hour.The platesetter is optimised for Brillia PRO-VN, one of the most advanced Fujifilm low-chemistry violet plates designed to simplify the pre-press process and drastically reduce chemistry usage. Brillia PRO-VN benefits from Fujifilm's patented MultiGrainTM technology, which ensures optimum ink/water balance and advanced handling performance.
L'Union de Reims use the Luxel News VMAX platesetters and Brillia PRO-VN plates together with an FCF News processor, a combination that is easy to use and maintain and results in efficient and cost effective plate production.
William emphasises the business and environmental benefits achieved following the installation of Fujifilm's integrated system: "Thanks to the introduction of this system, the use of a less chemistry has had a positive impact on the entire working environment, resulting in less waste, increased efficiency and cost savings. We halved the amount of waste and reduced the number of plate remakes, ensuring a cleaner and more efficient production process."
Not only did L'Union de Reims invest in Fujifilm's Luxel News VMAX platesetter and Brillia PRO-VN plates, but it also benefitted from Fujifilm's dedicated service. "Fujifilm is quick to respond, ensuring availability 24/7 and guaranteeing both remote and onsite support," comments William. "We boast a solid relationship with Fujifilm and we are pleased with its ability to check that all the quality requirements are met and prevent any issues arising thanks to proactive maintenance programmes."
He concludes: "Fujifilm is committed to support the newspaper market with dedicated technologies, and its 'lo-chem' integrated newspaper system, which allowed us to maximise productivity, achieve the highest quality standards and enhance our environmental credentials all in one go, is a great testament to this."
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