Construction will begin in October 2008 and
operations are planned to begin in January 2010. The European plate
manufacturing operation is one of four global bases for the production of offset
printing plates, the other three being in Japan, the United States and
China.
With the digitisation of the printing
process, Fujifilm says demand is rising rapidly for CTP systems especially in
the emerging economies due to their extraordinary economic growth, and this
trend is expected to continue.
awareness in Japan, the United States and Europe, there is a strong demand for
environmentally friendly products such as processless CTP plates which generate
no waste liquid due to the elimination of the film development process, and
chemistry free CTP plates which reduce waste liquid due to simplified
development processes.
The new production line will feature FUJIFILM’s
unique surface treatment technology, called MultiGrain Technology which refers
to the placement of four layers of multiple grains of a very fine texture on the
surface of the CTP plates' aluminum base. This enables the stable production of
high quality, high definition CTP plates with excellent durability and
consistency. It will also allow Fujifilm to manufacture processless and
chemistry free CTP plates which require advanced production technology.
Looking towards the future, Fujifilm says this investment will not only
allow it to meet the growing demand for CTP plates, but will also contribute to
reducing environmental impact by expanding the local production of such
environmentally friendly products. Fujifilm will also expand its supply to the
high growth markets in regions such as the Middle East as well as to Europe in
order to further increase its market share in the CTP plate market.
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