by Molly Joss
Getting into CTP can be a learning experience, as panelists at the BookTech '99 session "CTP Part Two: Economic Issues Roundtable" explained. Session speakers, who shared their experiences in detail, included
--Jerry Charlton, director of customer technical services, Quebecor Books, Kingsport, TN
--Deborah Jones, senior production manager, McGraw-Hill, School Division, New York City
--Craig Yolitz, director, prepress department, the West Group, Eagan, MN
--Mark M. Krahforst, manufacturing manager, Rodale Press
Overall, panelists described the experience of venturing into CTP as a positive one. As speakers described their experiences, a unifying pattern emerged -- each company had moved slowly into it as the technology developed, and, currently, not all of any company's printing is done CTP.
However, each speaker had a different reason for using CTP and, thus, different feelings about the economics. In general, though, the speakers all said that they had expected a greater cost savings overall than they had been able to achieve at this point, due primarily to the fact that CTP plates cost considerably more than conventional ones.
Charlton said that about 20 percent of the company's work is done CTP and he has found it is most economical for reprints and four-color work. For jobs that don't require a lot of changes or revisions, the savings is in the imposition process, not necessarily in CTP.
Jones outlined how McGraw-Hill had recently used CTP for a fast turnaround textbook project and, due to technical problems, ended up doing only a few titles using CTP. The rest were done conventionally, she reported.
Yolitz said that the West Group was very interested in CTP because the company needed to move its publications to market as quickly as possible to make the most profit. So, fast turnaround was what the company hoped to achieve, and after a few years of experiencing problems, now all of the company's 7.3 million one-color pages are done on CTP equipment.
Initially, because the cost of using CTP plates was so high compared to the cost of conventional plates, and because the plate processors had to be taken apart and cleaned frequently (a process that took hours), the cost of CTP outweighed the benefits of quick turnaround. These problems went away in 1998 when the company, which does its own printing, purchased several CTP platesetters that use conventional plates, explained Yolitz.
Krahforst said Rodale was attracted to CTP in 1996 because the technology offered the benefits of higher quality printing, a real bonus because Rodale prints health, fitness and craft books in four-color. The company was also interested in the promise of overall lower costs, something the company has yet to see. He said that while the print quality increase with CTP is significant, the higher cost of plates and associated technology means the cost of CTP is about the same as conventional printing. Since it is not more expensive than conventional printing and gives higher print quality, the company plans to continue using CTP. In 1999, 17 titles were done 100 percent CTP, and the company plans to move 100 percent of the four- and two-color work to CTP by the end of 1999.
All in all, the panelists seemed optimistic that costs of CTP will come down over time. The technology has allowed them to meet their major objectives of shortening turnaround time, improving print quality and keeping up with technology. However, Charlton's remarks at the end of the session aptly summed up the overall message, "Not everything is best suited for CTP ... You must allow your printer to be honest with you. Don't do technology for technology's sake. There should be a reason [for it]."
- Places:
- Baltimore, MD
- Bartlesville, OK
- Brooklyn Park
- Canada
- Cerritos, CA
- Charlotte, NC
- Chicago, IL
- Cincinnati, OH
- Claysburg
- Cleveland, OH
- Dallas, TX
- Davenport, IA
- De Pere, WI
- Dewey, OK
- Eagan, MN
- Fenton, Mo.
- Georgetown, MA
- Glendale
- Great Lakes
- Hiawatha, IA
- Hilliard, OH
- Kingsport, TN
- LOUISVILLE, KY
- Miami, FL
- Milwaukee, WI
- MINNEAPOLIS, MN
- Moonachie, NJ
- New Haven
- New York City
- New York, NY
- Niles, IL
- PHILADELPHIA, PA
- Providence, RI
- Racine, WI
- ROCHESTER, NY
- Sacramento, CA
- Solon, OH
- South San Francisco, CA
- Sunrise, FL
- Syracuse, NY
- Wichita, KS