Kingfisher swoops up a Speedmaster XL 75-5+L in two for one press swap
16.11.2010
Devon based, £3.5m turnover Kingfisher Print & Design
is replacing its two ageing Speedmaster 74s for one new Speedmaster
XL 75 to remain competitive and profitable in the coming
years.
Kingfisher takes delivery of a Speedmaster XL 75-5+L, a five-colour with coater, along with Inpress Control automated registration, spectral measurement and Pressroom Manager workflow, next month.
Managing director Ross Bellotti says: "We were very happy with the colour and efficiency we had with the two SM 74-5s (a 1996 and 1998 model) but the machines are getting older and the XL 75 with Inpress Control gives us a real improvement, a step change."
The Totnes company has to date always bought secondhand, but with few refurbished XL 75s available and the great improvement in control and productivity that the press could provide, buying new became the obvious route.
"This one press can output at least as much as the two other presses together with the potential to add another £500,000 of turnover to reach £4m a year," says Mr Bellotti. "We will move from 24/5 to 24/6 operation with Continental 12 hour shifts and will result in unfortunate but unavoidable redundancies to safeguard the company's profitability and position us to win more work."
The XL 75 gives Kingfisher a dedicated coating facility. Although 75% of its work is from the south west it handles some national work, including football programmes and estate agency brochures requiring quick turnarounds. The coating facility will enable work to move faster through the bindery, with no fear of marking, to meet that demand.
Before signing the deal, the company visited existing XL 75 user ESP Colour and the operators trialled the machine, seeing for themselves the potential for reducing existing makereadies of 20 to 30 minutes to under ten minutes.
"Inpress Control improves makeready times massively and guarantees colour consistency. We have specified a fifth unit because we handle a lot of corporate colours. Colour is really important to us; we worked with Mellow Colour to set up our ISO 12647-2 standard and are part of their prestigious Hundred Club for achieving 100% colour accuracy. Buyers demand consistency. They may use different suppliers but they need to know they get the same quality wherever they print," says Mr Bellotti.
Kingfisher's spend on Pressroom Manager software is about ensuring the highly productive press receives the correct colour data and inking information, enabling the operator to preset work rapidly while the previous job is still running. The reports from Pressroom Manager are real time, real life information which is valuable for seeing how the press is performing and how shifts compare. An app for the iPhone will be released soon and will allow Mr Bellotti to remotely access live production data.
"There is a gamble in replacing two presses with one but we have complete faith in Heidelberg's service and support. We are confident about the reliability of the machine. We have taken out the extended warranty and we know that we have Heidelberg engineers located close to us," says Mr Bellotti.
November 2010
For further information please contact:
Diana Thompson, Plus Point PR Ltd, on 01494-817178
Or
Mark Hogan, Heidelberg UK, on 0844 892-2010
Or
Ross Bellotti, Kingfisher Print, on 01803-867087.
Kingfisher takes delivery of a Speedmaster XL 75-5+L, a five-colour with coater, along with Inpress Control automated registration, spectral measurement and Pressroom Manager workflow, next month.
Managing director Ross Bellotti says: "We were very happy with the colour and efficiency we had with the two SM 74-5s (a 1996 and 1998 model) but the machines are getting older and the XL 75 with Inpress Control gives us a real improvement, a step change."
The Totnes company has to date always bought secondhand, but with few refurbished XL 75s available and the great improvement in control and productivity that the press could provide, buying new became the obvious route.
"This one press can output at least as much as the two other presses together with the potential to add another £500,000 of turnover to reach £4m a year," says Mr Bellotti. "We will move from 24/5 to 24/6 operation with Continental 12 hour shifts and will result in unfortunate but unavoidable redundancies to safeguard the company's profitability and position us to win more work."
The XL 75 gives Kingfisher a dedicated coating facility. Although 75% of its work is from the south west it handles some national work, including football programmes and estate agency brochures requiring quick turnarounds. The coating facility will enable work to move faster through the bindery, with no fear of marking, to meet that demand.
Before signing the deal, the company visited existing XL 75 user ESP Colour and the operators trialled the machine, seeing for themselves the potential for reducing existing makereadies of 20 to 30 minutes to under ten minutes.
"Inpress Control improves makeready times massively and guarantees colour consistency. We have specified a fifth unit because we handle a lot of corporate colours. Colour is really important to us; we worked with Mellow Colour to set up our ISO 12647-2 standard and are part of their prestigious Hundred Club for achieving 100% colour accuracy. Buyers demand consistency. They may use different suppliers but they need to know they get the same quality wherever they print," says Mr Bellotti.
Kingfisher's spend on Pressroom Manager software is about ensuring the highly productive press receives the correct colour data and inking information, enabling the operator to preset work rapidly while the previous job is still running. The reports from Pressroom Manager are real time, real life information which is valuable for seeing how the press is performing and how shifts compare. An app for the iPhone will be released soon and will allow Mr Bellotti to remotely access live production data.
"There is a gamble in replacing two presses with one but we have complete faith in Heidelberg's service and support. We are confident about the reliability of the machine. We have taken out the extended warranty and we know that we have Heidelberg engineers located close to us," says Mr Bellotti.
November 2010
For further information please contact:
Diana Thompson, Plus Point PR Ltd, on 01494-817178
Or
Mark Hogan, Heidelberg UK, on 0844 892-2010
Or
Ross Bellotti, Kingfisher Print, on 01803-867087.
