Nela to Automate 'Winnipeg Free Press' Plate Line

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By: E&P Staff

Nela, River Falls, Wis., received an order from the Winnipeg (Manitoba) Free Press for inline plate automation. The system, part of a prepress modernization and conversion to computer-to-plate output, will be installed this summer.

Designed to produce more than 650 press-ready plates per hour, the project will include implementation of a new workflow, three violet platesetters with processors, and three nela VCP vision punch-benders connected to a Nela high-capacity 18-bin sortation system.

Nela's VCP uses dual cameras to optically register each plate before punching and bending. The vision system ensures plate-to-plate register of every imaged plate. Nela's traffic-controlled automated conveyor will transport press-ready plates from the plateroom to the sortation system in the pressroom. A 2-D barcode on the plate works with Nela's NPS software to automatically sort plates based on customer-defined criteria. Plate information is provided by NPS to the workflow system for closed-loop plate tracking.

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