Re: Saving plates
We, also save some of our metal plates. Mostly reorders like envelopes, letterhead, forms, labels, etc. and primarily the one and two color jobs. We save fewer 4 color process plates because the majority have dates or information constantly changes.
I agree when proper cleaning and gumming procedures are not followed this can become labor intensive especially if a new plate needs to be remade. However, most of the time, stored plates work very well; I remember using one plate for an envelope for close to ten years running it several times a year; the ends of the plates finally cracked from wear, but the image stayed bullet proof.
I never thought about the environmental impact this has, so I quickly assessed the "new plate to reused plate" ratio and found that 60% of the metal plates used in the last week were reused plates, which when extrapolated over a year's time represents about close to 700 to 1,000 plates. Hmm, that's close to ten gallons of developer we do not use year and we're a small shop. So we saved both money and part of the environment--a win win situation.
Edited by: Jaime Zuniga on Oct 11, 2007 12:28 AM