Kodak has completed the installation of the first Kodak Magnus Q4800 Platesetter at the WKS Group in Essen, Germany. Equipped with an XPL Pallet Loading System with four pallet stations for four different plate formats, the overall configuration of the Magnus Q4800 is almost 19 meters (62 feet) long and 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) wide. That makes it the biggest CTP system ever to be installed anywhere globally.
WKS Group is one of the leading print and media service providers in Europe’s German-speaking countries. The Group comprises nine companies at six sites across Germany. Advanced production facilities enable printing projects to be executed, ranging from print runs of one to enormous quantities in the high-volume segment. WKS Group provides web and sheetfed offset and digital printing and finishing. Fulfillment and cross-media expertise round off WKS Group’s portfolio of services.
The fully automatic Magnus Q4800 Platesetter went into operation as planned at the WKS Group’s web offset site in December 2021. Yet, the Kodak team had to overcome daunting logistical challenges for a CTP project before that could happen. Fifteen large shipping crates had to be taken by truck from Kodak’s CTP development and production center in Vancouver, Canada, to Chicago. The journey then continued by air to Frankfurt, Germany, where they were subsequently transferred to the WKS Group’s Essen facility on four semitrailers. On arrival, the crates had to be lifted up to the fourth floor by crane, a full 16 meters for installation.
Kodak Magnus Q4800 Platesetter is efficient and reliable
The Magnus Q4800 Platesetter offers market-leading speed and productivity for extra-large format (XLF) plate making. It supports plate sizes up to 2.86 meters wide and uses Kodak Squarespot Imaging Technology, providing unparalleled stability, accuracy, and reliability for maximum efficiency and superior print quality. The Magnus Q4800 configuration installed at WKS Group provides fully automatic XLF plate loading from four pallets with up to 4,800 plates online, enabling over 10,000-meter squares of plates to run before reloading.
“The investment in such a huge CTP equipment configuration makes sense because it perfectly meets the current and future requirements of our Essen high volume production site in terms of plate sizes, throughput, and fully automated operation,” said Frank Döding, business manager/operations manager of WKS Group’s Essen site. “The Magnus Q4800 Platesetter places the plate imaging capability for our web offset presses on a new technological foundation. It allowed us to switch from UV to thermal plate imaging, and it gave us the much higher plate-making capacity we needed. We’re delighted that Kodak managed to install our new CTP solution on schedule, especially during the continued difficult situation due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” concluded Döding.
“We are extremely pleased with the successful completion of this pioneering installation. The Magnus Q4800 Platesetter will open new dimensions for the WKS Group regarding XLF plate imaging quality, automation, and productivity,” commented Giuliano Bianchet, vice president of Sales Eamer, Kodak. “The new Magnus Q4800 Platesetter is further proof that Kodak is investing heavily in advancing prepress and print technology, meeting our customers’ needs to drive productivity, cost-effectiveness and growth as the industry evolves.”
