Re: Magnus 400 again
"If a business is looking for high plate productivity (i.e. 250 plates a day, duplicator to "6-up" mix in plates), is a fully automated Magnus 400 Quantum a plausible route to take?"
If you're looking to buy one machine only, my answer is no. The sales people may say yes though....
I work in Creo/Kodak service and I know all their CTP machines inside out.
Magnus 400 Quantum (I suppose you will want the MCU) will image 250 plates a day but this means at least 10h daily with no hiccups. It will probably be able to perform this way around 70% of the time.
To image reliably 250 plates a day I would choose a machine able to this in 5-6 hours, so look for a CTP with more than 40pph performance. Plus, always have a backup.
My opinion is that Magnus 400 is optimal for a small, non-critical business.
If time is an issue and if you choose to go with Kodak, I will always go with a Trendsetter. It may lack the full automation, but it is still the best on the market. The design of this machine was great. Basically the same 10 years old engine design, it is reaching speeds of 260pph-broadsheet and 115pph-770mm wide.
We have customers running 5000 (yes 5000) plates during a night shift on only 3 machines (TSNews200)
For all out there advertising other machines, remember that Creo revolutionized this industry with their CTP's. They still have the best CTP money can buy and there are more than 10000 machines in the field. If you want to risk your money on some quasy- no-name product is your choice. All major printers, like RRD, Quebecor, Quad, and Transcontinental use them. Ever wonder why? The answer is - best product and best service. And they bought them while Screen, Agfa, etc. gave the machines for free bundled with plates
People out there should know one thing though: Magnus line, with the exception of Magnus VLF is based on the old school design from Scitex.
Scitex has an old philosophy and designers; they will never build top of the line products, but at the same time they have the best sales people.
Only the laser is made by former Creo, whose products were always way ahead of their time. The actual thermal head design is more than 10 years old, but still the leader in imaging speed and quality.
The only other CTP comparable on the market is Screen/Fuji which almost took the lead in imaging speed, but not quality.
Whoever is running Staccato 10 (FM -10 microns dot) can confirm.
This head is actually imaging a 3 microns dot and the same laser is being used by some companies in Europe for security printing at 12800dpi !
I cannot speak about Fuji/Screen service, but from what I know from customers, is inferior. Creo service is deteriorating but I still think it's the best.
One more thing about Magnus 400/800 - most parts are stored in US, but if something less common needs replacement, you may have to wait up to 20 days to have them shipped from Israel.
At the same time, all Trendsetter and Magnus VLF parts will come from Canada in 24h (max 48). Not sure how long this will last though, as the manufacturing is moving from Canada, in China.
, all with the same high quality laser system.
