Tomorrow is Right Around the Corner

Until fairly recently, there were only a handful of companies in the world that produced well-manufactured sleeves—and these companies were not necessarily the traditional, large-volume photopolymer plate suppliers. Rather, they were independent printers and prepress trade shops that made sleeves in small volumes for their own presses, or for very specific customers. As the benefits of sleeves became better understood, demand gradually increased. As the demand increased, the supply chain began to grow. The majority of today's new presses, both narrow-web in-line and wide-web central impression, are capable of running sleeves. And the big plate manufacturers are taking their sleeve technology out of research and development and putting it into production. We expect some significant announcements from the major players by the beginning of 2003.