 |
The folowing
case study was originally published by AGFA Graphic
Systems in 2005. |
Raising
the Printing Bar
Company: Flaire
Print Communications
Type: Commercial Printer
Size: 15 employees
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
Minnesota Printer Supplies Quality
with a Conscience
Every
morning when they head to work, Mark and Mike Kuzma think
of the two most important things they must do during
the course of the day: one, they try to make their company
better; and two, they try to stay ahead of the competition.
The Kuzma brothers head up Flaire Print Communications – Mark’s
the president and Mike’s vice president of production – a
mid-size commercial printer with 15 employees, based
in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company specialises in
business stationery and collateral marketing materials,
along with digital printing.
For
some, the idea of being an earth-friendly printer is
an exercise in futility – one cannot be friendly
to the earth if one’s job is to produce reams of
print for as many clients as possible. The Kuzma brothers,
however, have found a way to provide high quality print
for their clients, but in a way that helps keep the earth – and
their consciences – clean.
Keeping
it Clean
The
Kuzmas and Flaire Print Communications strive to be as
friendly to the environment as possible. In addition
to being members of traditional printing industry organizations,
Flaire is a member of the Printing Industry of Minnesota’s
(PIM) “Great Printers Environmental Initiative,” which
requires area printers to go beyond the minimum environment
compliance regulations. The company also uses soy inks
and participates in “Clean Air Minnesota,” which
is a partnership of local businesses, environmental groups,
and others to help reduce air pollution. The company
proudly explains its membership and participation in
each of these environmental initiatives on its web site
(www.flaire.com/about.html).
When
it came time to move from a film-based workflow to CtP,
the Kuzmas set out to find the best and most appropriate
CtP system for their business. With a passion as strong
for the environment as they have for printing, they realised
that Agfa’s :Acento with :Azura chemistry-free
plates and :Sublima XM screening was the best option
for the company. :ApogeeX, Agfa’s advanced digital
workflow solution, guides the process.
It
should come as little surprise that Flaire was the first
in Minnesota to use the :Azura system. For the Kuzmas,
the elimination of developer gave them another reason
for their clients and potential clients, who also have
an appreciation for the environment, to choose Flaire
over the competition.
“We
are trying to get all the print buyers to consider us,
not only for our exceptional quality and service, but
because of our care and concern for our environment.
We are always trying to better ourselves and the elimination
of developer was critical to our decision to go with
Agfa’s CtP system,” Mark Kuzma said.
Going
Chemistry-Free
:Azura
is a grained and anodised aluminium thermal plate that
uses patented ThermoFuse technology to physically bond
images to the plate without any chemical processing.
A clean-out step follows the non-ablative imaging process
to enhance contrast. The result is highly stable and
predictable thermal imaging, without any com-promises
on press. :Azura plates offer high quality (2-98% dots
on plate) imaging for printers using 2-, 4- and 8-up
formats.
:Azura
and its ThermoFuse technology allow printers to eliminate
water and developer from the CtP process. As a result,
the :Azura system can be environmentally sensitive and
quite beneficial to a printer’s bottom line. For
example, with :Azura, a typical 4-up printer would only
use a small container of gum per month, versus traditional
CtP systems that use thousands of gallons of water, devel-oper
and finisher. This could save printers thousands of dollars
each year.
Printing
with earthly concerns is a relatively new phenomenon,
according to Paul Gutkowski, who serves as PIM’s
safety and environmental services director. For now,
while the trend is first starting to gain steam, print
buyers still first look for quality in their printing
products. When it comes to choosing one printer from
an-other, with all else being equal, most print buyers
would choose the one who showed concern for the environment.
“Flaire
Print Communications has been leading the way when it
comes to fulfilling the requirements of our program,” Gutkowski
said. “Systems such as Agfa’s :Azura create
less pollution in the environment and help to create
a safer working environment for a printer’s employees.”
Quality
Counts
When
Flaire sales representatives talk to print buyers about
their prepress operation, they now have an entire package
to sell. With :Azura, Flaire offers high quality printing
with fast turnaround times. Helping the environment is
a bonus.
"Our
pressman tells me that the :Azura plate is the best he’s
ever worked with," Mark said. “We are always
trying to go a step beyond to stay competitive. Our new
Agfa CtP system has us at a whole new level and we aggressively
sell those differences to our customers.”
Flaire’s
CtP quality has gained significant recognition among
its customers and the community. The company recently
won a Gold Award from the Central Minnesota Craftsmen
Club of the Central Minnesota Print Professional Association
for a piece that was printed with :Sublima on a :Galileo.
Mark expects awards to be rolling in from his work using
the :Acento with :Azura and :Sublima, as well.
“Sublima
is absolutely great. I personally see the difference,” Mark
said.
At
the end of the day, the Kuzma brothers can leave the
office knowing they have performed excellent service
for their customers and done their part to make the world
a better place.
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