Plate storage

[QualityPrint]

We are currently rearranging our pressroom to increase efficiency in our workflow and I was wondering if there is a better way to store the plates before they go on press. We currently have a cabinet with 25 drawers that pull out that we use. Sometimes we get scratches if someone puts too many in a single drawer or mishandles them in anyway. I would love to hear how other shops handle this part of the workflow. Right now the prepress guys bring down the plates to the pressroom and put them in a drawer. The press guys then take the plates out, bend them and then put them on the press. Is this the best way?

 

[GazKL440]

We used to have a rack at each press with a list of jobs in order of priority, and the plates stacked vertically in order of requirement.. At my current place of employment they get stacked haphazardly in the plate room. This results in irritating scratches and general damage (I kid you not, I have had plates with wheel marks from chairs being rolled over edges etc) and more often than not bends in the plates that plate loaders can't deal with.

The vertical rack system is the best I've used yet, good plate care is important for good workflow, yet some people don't get that simple fact...

 

[gordo]

The kind of holder we used at the shop I worked at was similar to an artist's portfolio. It looked something like this:

It was made out of thin plywood and was open at the top. Plates and proofs were inserted from the top with the original slip sheets between the plates. A clear plastic envelope was attached to the outside to contain job docket information. A cut out handle made it easy to carry. It contained only one job. When it left prepress it went out to the pressroom and simply leaned up against the light booth/press console.

It's the same idea but a more robust and protective method than the one used in this shop:

where they use cardboard envelopes to hold plates (with the docket stuck to the outside).

In both cases, having them rest vertically instead of laying on top of each other prevents scratches and other damage.

And, of course, avoid this method:

where plates are simply placed up against any convenient surface.

best, gordo

 

[GazKL440]

That's pretty much what they do here Gordo... Not so nice!!!

The top method shown in your above post is pretty much exactly how my old shop had it set up, with the addition of a workflow/priority sheet clipped to it. This sheet was one copy of a set of four, with one copy to bindery, one to pre press, one to plate making (separate in the good old film days!!) and one the production manager kept on a clipboard do he could tick off jobs as completed.

This was a very productive set up that allowed the production manager to easily keep track of each stage of each job, and at what point each station was currently involved in or had completed etc. It helped with flexibility as he knew exactly where his production schedule was up to at any given point... Right up until a rep would throw a spanner in the works with a 'desperate' job

 

[jonprintz]

A simple, but effective way to store plates / job tickets is to have a open face cabinet with thin, vertical slots for your plates with a small open top box directly above that slot for the job ticket. The could be built out of plywood very easily by a handy craftsman. The number of slots could vary based on the size of your print shop. The unbent plates could be taped together on 2 corners with no image facing out. The scratched & bent up plate scenario will now be limited to your press operators having an "oooops" moment when they are bending plates.

The holder pictured by Gordo looks like a great idea also. There still needs to be a method to neatly store / track those. Standing them all around the console could become a problem as would storage of the empty holders.