Canadian Print Service Provider Keeps it Green
A member of the Agfa Graphics GreenWorks program, the prepress operation at Canada's Alliance Printing of Coquitlam (BC) (www.allianceprinting.com) has been green for six years. At the heart of Alliance's thermal CtP system is the world's number one chemistry-free plate, Azura TS.
Azura TS is a thermal, negative-working plate designed for low/medium volume commercial printing operations. Based on Agfa Graphics' ThermoFuse technology which eliminates traditional chemistry, Azura TS plates provide predictable, consistent and reliable, high-quality platemaking.
In 2009, Alliance Printing replaced its current chemistry-based CtP system and moved to thermal imaging technology. The system revolves around the Azura plate, with its patented graining greatly improving on-press performance.
"The outcome of this transition was amazing! Our waste was cut significantly and there's no more chemistry to treat before disposal. What used to take hours cleaning the processor now only takes minutes, and dumping chemistry every month due to oxidation has become a thing of the past," said Shawn Taghvaei, president and owner, Alliance Printing. "Our on-press performance has greatly improved. Thanks to the patented graining on the Azura plate we were able to run with much less water, resulting in less ink on the sheets, faster make readies for improved tone reproduction and improved productivity and profitability."
For Alliance, it's not enough to merely think green, but to be green in all aspects of business.
"We recycle all of our off-cut papers, cardboard and plates, we use vegetable-based inks for printing and recycle our toner cartridges on our digital printers," Taghvaei added. "Agfa Graphics' GreenWorks program continues to be very helpful in spreading the word about how green we are and how important that is to all of us here at Alliance Printing."
All GreenWorks-accredited commercial printers are easy to find on GD USA and Agfa Graphics websites, promoted to buyers/designers interested in environmental responsibility and may be featured in Agfa Graphics public relations and promotions.
"Commercial printers like Shawn at Alliance Printing are not only doing a service to their customer, but to the planet. We are fully supportive of endeavors that are eco-friendly, but also improve commercial printers' end products and relationship with their customers for increased profits and greater success," said Deborah Hutcheson, director of marketing, Agfa Graphics, North America.
Every GreenWorks customer receives a marketing toolkit and professional assistance to help market their environmental leadership, spreading the word about the importance of environmentally-safer practices. The toolkit includes the new GreenWorks logo which accredited customers can display on their products and promotions.
- Companies:
- Agfa Corp.
