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Golden Business Forms, a Missouri-based business forms printer established in 1963, has modernised its prepress operation by moving to process-free platemaking with the installation of a KODAK TRENDSETTER Q400 SA Platesetter and KODAK SONORA Process Free Plates. The upgrade replaces a 15-year-old ECRM Mako 800 CTP system and doubles throughput to 30 plates per hour while eliminating chemical processing entirely.
The business forms sector is a demanding niche. Golden Business Forms runs round-the-clock production of ATM rolls, receipts, continuous forms and thermochecks for independent distributors and print brokers, where consistency and speed are everything. A platemaker that needs chemical baths, frequent maintenance and careful handling can become a hidden drag on the whole operation. By removing those steps, the new workflow simplifies prepress and frees capacity for the high-volume jobs that keep the presses busy.
David Hieber, Prepress Lead at Golden Business Forms, praised the installation, noting that integration into the existing workflow was flawless. That seamlessness matters because a prepress change that disrupts pressroom schedules can cost more than it saves. Built on KODAK SQUARESPOT Imaging Technology, the TRENDSETTER Q400 delivers precise imaging and automation without forcing a wholesale re-engineering of how plates move through the plant.
The process-free approach also delivers measurable time savings. Golden Business Forms estimates that it saves roughly two minutes per plate, which translates to more than 24 hours of production time recovered every month. For a plant operating continuously, that is the equivalent of adding more than a full day of output without adding staff or shifts. The same change reduces energy and water consumption and cuts the number of plate remakes caused by chemical inconsistencies.
Sustainability benefits compound the productivity gains. Conventional plate processing consumes water and chemistry and generates waste that must be managed. Process-free plates are imaged directly and then run on press, with no wash-off stage. For a company producing high volumes of repeat business-forms work, the reduction in consumables and effluent is both an environmental and a cost story.
There is a reliability angle as well. Older CTP equipment tends to need more intervention as it ages, and a 15-year-old platesetter is firmly in that territory. Moving to current hardware reduces the risk of unplanned downtime during peak demand, which in the forms business can coincide with tight customer deadlines. The automation built into the TRENDSETTER Q400 also lowers the skill burden on any individual operator, making the prepress step easier to staff.
Golden Business Forms’ investment is a useful case study for in-plant and commercial printers evaluating whether process-free plates are ready for demanding environments. The answer, at least for this Missouri printer, is that the technology now matches the throughput and quality of traditional workflows while removing their overhead. That conclusion is especially relevant for high-volume offset operations where plate count is high and margins are tight.
The broader takeaway is that prepress, often treated as a backstage function, can be a lever for both sustainability and speed. Golden Business Forms doubled its platemaking rate and cut its environmental footprint in the same move, a combination that aligns operational efficiency with corporate responsibility goals. For distributors and brokers relying on fast, consistent forms production, the upgrade should be felt as shorter lead times and steadier quality.
As more printers scrutinise every step of the production chain for waste and cost, process-free platemaking is likely to move from differentiator to default. Golden Business Forms’ experience shows that the transition can be smooth, the payback tangible and the quality unaffected, all while supporting a cleaner shop floor.
Source: Kodak / Golden Business Forms via inkish.news
