(PRESS RELEASE) MESQUITE, TX — Orora Visual announces its substantial investment in a revolutionary water and chemical-free lithography (offset printing) plate making process. The Fujifilm SUPERIA ZX is a breakthrough process-less plate development that leverages a thin film coating that is more durable, uses less energy, delivers improved visibility and faster output for press operators, and the best part – it eliminates all water and the need for any chemicals in the process.
Since the lithography process was first invented it has required substantial amounts of water and liquid chemistry of some kind to develop a coated thermal metal plate. This innovation has not only reduced that need but has eliminated the wasteful nature of the plate making process entirely.
“Our new FUJI plate technology utilizes the existing water on the printing press to “develop or wash” off the plate as opposed to having the pre-press image setter wash away the film coating before it reaches the press. The outcome is that no water is used in the plate imaging process, which significantly improves our impact on the world’s water supply. Additionally, no more chemicals are needed to develop our plates”, said Jim Blee, Vice President, Orora Visual.
“Specifically, this investment will eliminate 9,000 litres of chemistry and 2.5 million litres of water per year in our plate-making development process across our facilities. Additionally, we will reduce our material and labor costs, save energy, and eliminate the possible harmful effects of chemistry being flushed down the drain,” Blee added.
The FUJI breakthrough was introduced to the market in 2021. However, Orora Visual is North America’s first adopter of this new process for making plates for its large format 81” litho presses. This investment puts the company at the forefront of modern litho operations.
Orora Visual’s printing arsenal includes 14 large format litho presses including five KBA Rapida 205s, the world’s largest sheetfed offset press at 59.5” x 81”, to support the top sheet printing needs of its packaging customers and the large format printing needs of its retail and consumer brand customers. In total, Orora has 43 printing presses covering eight print methods across its production facilities in Dallas TX, Orange County CA, Chicago IL, and Clifton NJ.