Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it's the Printmaster 52

In Auckland last year the Heidelberg 52-2 colour press proved its phenomenal speed in a comparative test printing the same jobs in 5 hours instead of the original 14 hours.

This impressive feat was enough to convince owner and managing director Patrick Koch of Artypo in New Caledonia that the "fifty two" was the right press for his operation.  In December 2007 the press was installed and since then it hasn't had an idle moment.

Patrick talks about his experience. "I took my production manager to Auckland to run the same jobs on the press that we had produced on our single and two colour GTOs.  He was sceptical about the claims of speed, but all doubts were removed once we saw what the machine could do."

"We put the press through its paces printing a variety of jobs that were reflective of a typical workload for us.  It was so fast. That's what really impressed us.  Particularly with numbering and perforating jobs - we do a lot of this type of work for the banking sector.  Setting up these jobs was a time consuming process on our older presses, but on the new 52 it is very, very fast."

Patrick estimates they can now produce "four times as many jobs in the same time frame.  The press is consistently booked up a month in advance." The speed of make readys has also given Patrick more flexibility and he is able to "slot in extra jobs between larger runs because it is so quick and easy to set up." 

Established in 1973 Artypo is one of the largest printers in New Caledonia.  In addition to the machine the company also operates a Heidelberg 52-4 colour as well as a CD 102-5 colour with coater at its plant in Noumea.  Patrick took over 18 months ago and the company is enjoying brisk trade thanks to New Caledonia's booming economy. "Business is excellent," he concludes.

Further Information:
Roy Erskine
Account Manager - Pacific Nations
Email: Roy.Erskine@heidelberg.com