GSA  appointments 
In April this year, GSA was launched by Intergrafica Print & Pack as a stand-alone company operating as the exclusive distributor in New Zealand for the Fujifilm portfolio of prepress consumables, hardware and software systems. Since then, the fledgling company has worked hard to establish itself as a major player in the market and, in the process, has achieved some significant wins. "We’ve had a very successful first few months in the market," says Ian Gibson, GSA national business manager for New Zealand. "We’ve received very positive feedback from customers and achieved some major sales in the region."

Successes include a winning tender that will see the on-going supply of Fujifilm plate products to the Wilson & Horton Group, thus ensuring the continuation of quality print output at the New Zealand Herald.

The well-known award winning New Zealand printing company, Pan Print, has also continued its love affair with Fujifilm hardware with an upgrade to its Luxel P9600 CTP system to take advantage of the many benefits offered by the new Fujifilm violet laser technology. Violet laser technology has continued to win favour with Image Centre choosing the Fujifilm V9600 CTP system as its preferred option for moving to a complete computer-to-plate workflow.

"These installations of violet light CTP systems are a good indication of the headway that we are starting to make in the hardware market," explained Ian Gibson. "And we are confident of further installations that will consolidate our position as a major all-round prepress player."

The rapidly changing nature of CTP plate products and technologies is one area that has created a good deal of confusion in the market in recent times. Fuji’s worldwide position has been to avoid the use of silver-halide products for environmental reasons. As a result, it has invested all its efforts in developing thermal plates and violet light imaging of photopolymer plates for a variety of markets and systems, including non-Fuji hardware. Worldwide, Fuji CTP plate sales are now split roughly 50-50 between these thermal and violet light products and both continue to play a key role in its plate portfolio.

While Fuji’s traditional strength has always been in the film and plate markets, GSA has worked hard since its launch to present itself as a total supplier encompassing input/output hardware, workflow software and proofing solutions.

From the start, GSA has also signalled its intention to be more than just a Fuji distributor in New Zealand. Although that agency remains the core of the company’s product offering, it is also in the process of adding a wide range of other brands to cover specific areas of the market.