PS plate sale on internet

Internet sale of presensitized plate is not found on Amazon or Ebay, but on Alibaba in China, one can find many variety of offerings on presensitized plate, digital, analog, photopolmer, etc. at an astounding pricing close to or even below aluminum base price.       Here are only a sampling of offerings.    (to lament once specially priced.... $10 or so...  high technology products now being offered so low a price reflecting a sad state of ultra competitive environment.) . 

Most Popular on Alibaba.com

in Printing Plate

Printing Plate

Recommended

Evershine positive ps plate

$1.00-$4.00

10000 Square Meters(Min Order)

1

offset printing thermal positive ctp plate

$2.40-$3.00

1000 Square Meters(Min Order)

2

High Quality A3 Plate Maker Aluminum Thermal CTP Offset Printing Plate

$1.93-$2.71

5000 Square Meters(Min Order)

3

China positive conventional offset printing ctcp plates

$2.02-$3.00

1 Square Meter(Min Order)

4

Thermal CTP Plate

$1.90-$2.70

1000 Square Meters(Min Order)

5

China supplier offset aluminium matt surface negative ps printing plate

$1.00-$3.50

3000 Square Meters(Min Order)

6

water washable photopolymer pad printing plate

$1.00-$20.00

10 Pieces(Min Order)

RIP Agfa Branchburg factory

Just learned (Feb. 2019) the announcement by Agfa in late 2018 that they plan to close their Branchburg, NJ factory by the end of 2018 which means it had already been closed!     According to the article the plant was only making thermal plates and not the growing chemistry-free plate.     It said that the decision to close was compelled by the recent 10% tariff imposed on imported aluminum.   
For those of us including me, Agfa was THE competitor at one point. (and still may be worldwide for Kodak).     
Interesting to read one comment below from ex-Azoplate employee that their primary competitor then was 3M in 1970-78, not Polychrome and not Kodak!         And Fuji was not even landed in US then.   
 


Here is the entire article copied from Printing Impression (digital version)

Agfa Announces Plans to Close Its Offset Printing Plate Manufacturing Facility in New Jersey

By Mark Michelson

Gunther Mertens, regional president - North America, says the plant only operates one plate line, limiting the types of Agfa plates that can be manufactured.

Agfa Graphics has announced that it will be closing its 250,000-sq.-ft. offset printing plate manufacturing facility in Branchburg, N.J., by the end of this year in order to optimize its global production capacity and supply chain efficiencies. The plant closure will impact 125 workers.

"While our volume of printing plates sold in North America remains strong, this action is being taken to better meet the current and future expectations of our customers, and the competitive pressures of today's market for offset printing plates," said Gunther Mertens, regional president - North America.

In a conference call, Mertens further explained to Printing Impressions that the Branchburg facility was a less efficient operation within Agfa’s worldwide offset plate manufacturing network, which includes production facilities in Leeds, U.K.; Wiesbaden, Germany; Pont-a-Marq, France; Suzano, Brazil; and Wuxi, China.

Plant Hampered by Its Sole Plate Production Line

Originally acquired as part of the acquisition of Enco in January 1996, he pointed out that the Branchburg facility only has one plate production line (in comparison to a site like Wiesbaden that operates three dedicated plate lines), which made the New Jersey operation less efficient and less cost-effective when making changeovers to produce different types of plates.

As such, the Branchburg facility was dedicated to producing thermal plates for the commercial and newspaper printing markets, but was not being deployed to fulfill the growing market demand for Agfa’s chemistry-free and eco-friendly plate offerings.

Mertens also noted that the current 10% tariffs being imposed on imported aluminum made the final decision that much more compelling.

The import tariff on aluminum is impacting all U.S. litho plate manufacturers and their offset printer customers.

Since there is no longer a U.S.-based source for litho-grade aluminum, Agfa has been sourcing its aluminum from Europe and then incurring the shipping costs and tariff penalties of importing it to the Branchburg facility, which has a maximum production capacity of 200 million sq. ft.

This was further compounded by ongoing pressures on offset plate pricing due to intense competition among the various plate providers and the low-margin environments that most offset printers continue to face.

"Today, 45% of our offset printing plate volumes in North America are already sourced from other factories in the Agfa network. We can seamlessly move manufacturing and supply points, while adjusting for changes in replenishment times,” he said, noting that the Branchburg plant closure will have no impact on Agfa’s ability to maintain a secure supply chain for its North American customers.

And one comment 

• • −

  

  
  
  

  Raymond J. Prince • 

  
  

  It is sad to see the New Jersey site close. When the site was built in the late 1960's it truly was state of the art. As the industry changed many changes were made in the plant but one needs to keep in mind that plant is coming on 50 years old. I worked for the Azoplate which marketed litho products under the trade name of ENCO from 1970 - 1978. It was a great place to work with the litho industry expanding. At that time our primary competition was the 3M plate division. We competed well. Management both top and line was excellent.

1 Comment

Train advertisement in Tokyo

I had one personal economic indicator I watched whenever I was in Japan.     Advertisement pieces hanging inside commuter trains.          Ever punctual commuter trains are always full of people and for a long time advertisement posters were displayed, changed weekly and read by millions daily.        I was surprised to see some vacant spots when the recession hit Japan sometime ago and thought it indeed reflected the state of economy.       Now, however, the vacant spots are very visible  and riders do not seem to be paying much attention.           With almost full employment there is certainly no recession in Japan and this clearly reflects the population moving away from the  printed information.         Indeed the other day out of 10 sitting commuters, 9 were glued to their smartphone reading mails, news, listening to music or watching movie.     The printing business and technology on which we built our life still go on and are playing an important role in the society but the growth we experienced year after year during our days are now gone.        I am somewhat sad to see this but at the same time welcome the new digital technology I am now so used to having around.                   ( Including this  electronic means of communication!)     

Season's Greeting from Hal Pichler

Hal Pichler who briefly worked in Yonkers and then in Germany now lives in Germany sent in his Season's Greeting.      I believe his feeling about good old Polychrome resonate very much with our own.        With his permission I am sharing his note as he wrote.       Wishing you the best in 2019.
          
                                                                                                                         

Dear Ken,

is not only the season what makes me thinking about Yonkers, is the friendship too and

the hard and excellent work you've done to keep the members in contact. Without you I

could not forward my condolances to Anneliese. Was Gregory even a best friend and I

had been seeking him for more then 30years.

I think so many often of what I've could had given more to Polychrome. It was time ahead 

when I was thinking to make a platine with a high defined film out of the CKP (aluminium

ased, cupperiesed and subtractiv positiv working. Years later it could have been used for

cellphones. Krainer, he's now feeding dove's came in my office overhanded me a letter

from Polychrome GmbH and show to me with fingers a no go.

In Germany I overworked a poor working positive working deletion fluid # 230 as was working poor. After I involved myself with a new chemist I had it with 1/2 hour perfect

working as 230/002  2nd test and it was perfect against all resistence.

I importet plates from Lastra/Italy on private label  and wonder I say Guenther Aurich and VanLinden on the booth of Lastra at a fair. Please forgive me, but all my live was printing and Polychrome. I even respected and not compaire Polychrome when I was selfimployed

for 15 years. 6 patents I delveloped in that time even the first sleeves combind cotton with

plastic to get the benefit of both. 4 patents in chemistry worldwide the best developer for

positive plates. Even when 3M changed their coates to avoid that that others put hand on their plates. A replanisher to replanish 4 ml instead of 400 ml  and made a much more better reading of peaks. the first pefect working wahing liquid was part of the developement of the dampners. I was proud to be a Polychromer and was always going my way, I need not advise and Krainer was a dumb - he was the reason why I left PC

Mr Halpern and Jim ask for me to change to switch from GmbH to Corp. Mr Halpern in person, he told me "You are going your own way, but you always did a good job." When I

know where he is barried I am going to his grave to say good bye, he was unvisible always on my side and inspired me. And I have to say I owned him a lot for my later carrrier.

Vorgive me please when my heart is overboarding it comes from heart into my brains and typing fingers. Then also a great homesichness is coming up, and am sure you'll understand what that means.

I strongly believe you meanwhile in Tokio Japan because I was late with my letter to you,

and unforgotten am typing now to wish you and your family

​     A merry Christmas and A Happy New Year​ 

​My very best greetings to you and your family,

Hal

RIP Mr. Bob Gumbinner

FYI RE:     Robert Gumbinner Passing                                                               10/22/18

Dear Friends, Relatives, ColleaguesMy father, Robert Gumbinner, passed away last night.  He died peacefully after a number of recent medical issues.  About 3 months ago he broke his hip and had a hip replacement done.  As a fighter and never a complainer, he battled back from that only to be hit last week with a UTI and sepsis.  Ultimately, it all proved to be just too much.
Dad was 99 years young.  He was an incredibly kind, determined, thoughtful and humble man – a husband, a boss, a giver and a father and a grandfather.  If I had to choose one word to describe my father, he was a real mensch. 
Services are scheduled to be held at the Riverside Memorial (21 West Broad Street, Mt Vernon, NY 10552:  tel. 914-664-6800) on Thursday, October 25, 2018 @ 10:00 AM, burial to follow at Mt Zion Cemetery in Queens, NY (59-63 54th Avenue, Maspeth, NY 11378:   tel. 718-335-2500); followed by a luncheon somewhere close.

Also, there might be a short memorial service in the coming weeks at Greenspring Village in Springfield, VA, where my Dad lived since 2001.
Annie and I will be driving up to New York on Tuesday and staying at the Hyatt Place, 7000 Mall Walk, Yonkers, NY 10704.
My cell phone # is 703-577-6696.  Annie’s is 301-252-2977.
NOTE:  If one were inclined to send something, as opposed to flowers, donations to the MVS Greg A. Gumbinner Scholarship Fund would be appreciate (if so, please mention Greg Gumbinner):  https://www.merrimackvalleystriders.com/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=629580&module_id=197886.
Best Wishes to all.
Fred

J. Piot and Aladdin info from Al wierling

Hello Ken,

Hope you are well, I am enjoying your updates on the Polychrome archives blog.

If I may, the correct company for Joe Piot before his PC days was Aladdin  Industries, a Nashville based manufacturer of thermal cups, trays and some industrial equipment.

At that time, mid 80’s Aladdin was a DIC company and Mr. Piot often visited our branch in Nashville and I suspect at the  same time a visit to Aladdin which was near our office. I believe he had a home in the Green Hills area. We found him to be very pleasant and kind, however I was too far down the food chain to determine his competence. Now under new ownership (Pacific Marketing Inc) Aladdin is still in Nashville albeit with only 19 employees.

Regards

Al wierling

Management of Polychrome under DIC ...from Mr. Iwata's book

DIC faced departure of Polychrome top managements right after the take over.       Mr. Halpern, fearing his stake would not be marketable once take over is complete and the company is delisted, tendered his 20% share to TOB.         Mr. Levy who was then president of Polychrome came out of film background and did not have enough experience to lead presensitized plate focused company.       Thus two left the company and S. Kawamura turned to his friend J. Piot who was a salesman with the Aradin company with which S Kawamura built a relationship earlier.        H. Iwata became North American Manager of DIC to assist him.       J. Piot and Iwata visited an Arthur Andersen partner to ask his opinion, he told JP that the role of leading Polychrome would be difficult for him.
But S.Kawamura did not have alternative and Polychrome was run by J Piot.     But as Arthur Andersen partner predicted Polychrome management was in disarray within one year.       J Piot did not have graphic arts experience and did not try to learn the business either.         The competition in the presensitized plate at that time was the competition in run length.        Even thought Polychrome introduced high run length plates, there were many complaints from customers.       Technical group would say customer education is insufficient,  production would say that the poor quality of sensitizer resulted in high coating loss, sales would say production is not up to par,        Thus everyone was blaming others.        This type of situation happens in  a typical American company without an able leader; just as also happened  in Kohl and Madden Co. which DIC purchased earlier.
H Iwata proposed S Kawamura to remove J Piot.       His answer was to send Iwata back to Japan and replace him with H Irie who was considered to be the most able manager within DIC then.                 S Kawamura must have had concern that if he dismissed his appointee his reputation would suffer and thus ended up  not able to replace J Piot right away.