The Magic of Anicolor

There's an old saying that goes; if something seems too good to be true, then it probably is. Most of the time wisdom such as this holds true, unless of course there is a body of fact and evidence to back up the apparently unbelievable claims being made.

As a leader in the industry, Heidelberg vigorously protects its reputation and standing as an innovator of, and authority on, sheetfed printing technology. We'd be ill-advised making unproved claims about our equipment that cannot be backed up on the print shop floor. There are three facts that Heidelberg wants you to know about Anicolor:

• 90% reduction in waste sheets
• 40% reduction in make ready time
• 25% increase in productivity

We present percentages and not dollar figures to make it easy for you to relate these savings to your print shop. All print shops are different and this enables you to make a quick analysis about the impact of adopting Anicolor technology using these percentages.
The global experience also supports the claims. Since its launch at IPEX in 2006, Anicolor presses have been installed all over the world, with ninety presses 'surprising and delighting' print shop owners in 15 different countries. These overseas installations have set benchmark but it's always good to confirm it with our own experiences.

The Quiet Revolution
In the February 2007 edition of HAN's e-newsletter we wrote about the 'quiet revolution' of Anicolor. A little more than a year on we have gained first-hand local experience and gathered real-life facts and figures about system's performance and now is the time to roar for Anicolor.

Eastern Press, the first print shop in Australia to install an Anicolor press, saw immediate savings and efficiencies once their new press was put into production. To say that Managing Director Frank Hilliard is raving about Anicolor is an understatement. He already wants another one!
"In just the first few days we have achieved some amazing things we'd never have been able to achieve before. Such as the A5 job that had somehow become lost in the system. We put the plates on the press at 9.30am, ran 10,000 sheets, took the job straight off the press in 500-sheet lots, had them trimmed and then dispatched, arriving at the customer site by 10.30am. It was a four colour job with high ink coverage. I was amazed with how quickly the job dried. With less water and superior drying, we turned this job around in record time."

Hilliard goes on to describe his other experiences. "We had a customer come in to see our new press. I showed him a make ready. We ran the first few sheets and pulled 20. They were already at saleable quality. And the colour consistency; it's fantastic. Once we get it right in prepress, I know that I can run a job of 2,000 sheets or 20,000 sheets and the colour will be 100% perfect through the entire run. Colour consistency is critical for the short run, high quality work we produce. Our press operator doesn't have to check and adjust all the time - he can spend the running time getting the next job ready for the press."

So it seems that a little bit of magic sometimes is believable.

Further Information:
Lindsay Barnes - Product Manager, Sheetfed
Tel. +61 3 9263 3381
Email: Lindsay.Barnes@heidelberg.com