ESP Colour in UK
will save £6,000 to £7,000 a month of stitching
work when it replaces a Muller Martini Prima with a Heidelberg
Stitchmaster ST450 in January 2007.
Operations director Anthony Thirlby says, 'This investment is
a direct result of the impact of our Speedmaster SM 102-10P and the
volume and quality of work we are producing. We need to be more
efficient to a guaranteed quality with our stitching. At present we
know that some of our competitors are more efficient than us, we
need improvement and the ST450 gives us that efficiency and quality
with complete automation.
'Also the cycle speed of 14,000cph will increase the
throughput by 40 per cent whilst enabling us to run with one
assistant instead of an operator and sometimes two assistants at
present, this is possible as the ST450 has been specified with
signature recognition cameras. Another feature that we specified is
the 3-up trim attachment kit; this will enable us to be more
competitive on miniature work, which at present we do not win due
to the limitations of our current line. We have looked extensively
and believe that the ST 450 is the best machine on the market
today.'
The company has specified four-stations (three with vertical
feeding and one with flatbed feeding) plus two cover feeders, the
second enabling it to produce inserts in line on the run.
Mark Hogan, marketing manager from Heidelberg UK who is
responsible for finishing,
said, 'There is a false perception in the market that
Heidelberg only sells finishing kit when it sells a press. This is
not so. Our finishing lines stand or fall on their ability to
perform at speed, reliably and flexibly. We are delighted that ESP
has recognised just how great the ST450 really is.'
Thirlby and new post-press operations manager Nigel Cuming
both have ST / Heidelberg experience, but for all three supervisors
this marks a change in stitching system, but there is a great
willingness to learn and move forward. It is envisaged that
assistants will eventually be able to run the stitcher because it
is so easy to operate.
The quality aspect of the ST450 was also critical, quality
comes as second nature to ESP as at present they produce all coated
sheet work at 247# on triple coated paper to ISO 12647 standard.
For ESP, JDF-compatibility is a prerequisite because it is
committed to having prepress to finishing links in place for
cutting, folding and stitching by mid 2007. Steering this project
alongside Anthony Thirlby is prepress manager Simon Evers (pictured
above). Heidelberg's Prinect workflow solutions are very open and
linking finishing in with a Tharstern MIS system at ESP will
present no difficult as ESP has already developed its own bespoke
data capture system on existing post press equipment.
The ST450 was launched at IPEX earlier this year. Proving
that the Australian and New Zealand market is as advanced and
leading edge as any, HAN secured an order for two ST450's
destined to be installed early in 2007. Once up and running these
stitchers will be part of substantial commercial web operation
working within a networked CIP4 workflow sharing production data.
More details on this installation in the New Year.
Further Information:
Rudi Kolbach
Tel. +61 2 9318 5224
Email:
Rudi.Kolbach@heidelberg.com