Investment in Heidelberg Solutions Fuels Renewed Confidence and Hones Printers’ Competitive Advantage
06/08/2012
Kennesaw, Ga. - Heidelberg has announced the following new
product installations:
Disc Pro Printing and Graphics Takes Business to A Higher Level
with New Speedmaster CX 102
Disc Pro Printing and Graphics (Houston) met with most of the
major press vendors before deciding on a new, UV-ready, 6-color
Speedmaster CX 10, "but Heidelberg impressed us most with the
features and functions of the press," said company president Dale
Morris. "In terms of training and service too," he added,
"Heidelberg trainers and technicians are all first-rate. We're very
happy, not only with the press, but also with Heidelberg as a
supplier-partner."
Five weeks and 2.5 million impressions into production with
its new CX 102 press, Disc Pro Printing and Graphics can readily
tick off the elements of its newfound competitive advantage: 75
percent faster makereadies; run speeds to 16,500 iph; dramatic
reductions in material waste and man hours; zero overtime. In fact,
said Morris, the new CX 102 already produces as much or more than
Disc Pro Printing and Graphics' existing 40- and 28-inch presses
combined.
Because the company contemplates moving to mixed-UV printing
down the road, the easy convertibility of the CX 102 to UV mode was
a major factor in Disc Pro Printing and Graphics' decision to
purchase the CX 102. Other decisive factors were user-friendly
touchscreen controls, ink-sparing Inkline automatic ink feed,
extended delivery, and press-side Axis Control color measurement
system, which Morris credited with raising the confidence of
customers and operators alike.
"Axis Control is a wonderful capability," Morris said. "It
enables us to print by the numbers, alerts us when something is
wrong, or confirms we're doing everything right."
Disc Pro Printing and Graphics' CX 102 also came equipped
with aqueous coater and POLAR skid turner.
Established in 1999 and with steadily increasing annual
sales, Disc Pro Printing and Graphics has become one of the
largest, independently owned printing companies in the Houston
area. The company, which operates a 22,000-square-foot facility in
Houston with a staff of 50, prints marketing collateral, forms and
promotional products for end-users here and abroad, including
Fortune 500 companies and major advertising agencies.
Allied Printing Takes on High-Value Boutique Packaging with KAMA
ProFold 74 Finishing Folder-Gluer: "We love the versatility," Owner
Says
Allied Printing in Ferndale, MI recently purchased a new KAMA
ProFold 74 multi-functional finishing folder-gluer to advance its
plans to expand into high-value, short-run, boutique packaging. As
a first step in that direction, the company installed a Heidelberg
Varimatrix die cutter last year.
"We were doing our own die cutting but still outsourcing the
finishing," said Vice President of Operations Tony Pelc. "As we
continue to build our book of business, we are keenly focused both
on maintaining quality control over the products we produce, as
well as on achieving quicker time to market without relying on
third party sources. With both the Varimatrix and the new KAMA
ProFold in place, we can seize the opportunity to participate in
the boutique packaging market, and to do so profitably."
As a testament to the KAMA ProFold's simplicity and ease-of
use, Pelc explained that after two of Allied's operators spent only
four days in training at Heidelberg's Technology Center in
Kennesaw, GA, they were so well-versed in running the machine that
no additional on-site training was required after installation.
"They took to the machine immediately," he said, including
mastery of a variety of options, including capacity folding, pocket
folding, and turning devices; a hotmelt and fugitive glue
application system; adhesive tape dispenser; and pick-and place
attachment. Among the products for which Allied uses the KAMA
ProFold are pocket folders, crash-lock boxes, CD and DVD pockets,
and specialty mailing envelopes.
"We love the KAMA ProFold 74 for its versatility," Pelc
said, "especially its card-inserting capability, which lets us
affix cards or magnets to pocket folders, for example." Compact,
touchscreen-controlled, and capable of a wide range of standard and
high-value applications, the KAMA ProFold 74 features a unique,
grid-type mounting system that enables the tools required for the
actual job to be positioned in any order quickly and precisely,
ensuring short set-up times, quick changeovers from one job to the
next, ensuring higher profitability on short runs. Standard
features include large plough-folding device, flap plough-folding
device, tipper fold plate and pressure rollers.
Allied currently runs the KAMA ProFold 74 roughly
three-quarters of a shift per day, seven days a week, although the
company expects that growing volume and customer demand soon will
increase its utilization. According to Pelc, Allied is on track to
rack up annual sales of $18 million this year, a figure
representing a 17 percent increase over last year's numbers.
Allied Printing was founded in 1952, with the Pelc family
assuming ownership in 1971. With 84 employees deployed across a
five-building campus, the company provides commercial offset and
digital printing, as well as information management, mailing,
e-commerce, and warehouse and fulfillment services to a primarily
regional but increasingly national clientele.
All-Color Business Specialties Locks in "Huge Competitive
Advantage" with Fast, Productive Stitchmaster ST 100
"It doesn't go on the floor unless it's a Heidelberg,"
declared All-Color Business Specialties owner Billy Bogue.
That said, the Farmingdale, NY trade printer advanced a
companywide equipment upgrade recently with the installation of a
Stitchmaster ST 100 saddlestitcher from Heidelberg. The company
also installed a TH 66 Stahlfolder nine months ago, and recently
signed an order for a Speedmaster XL 75 5-color press, to be
delivered at the end of the year.
"The new stitcher offers new electronics, more sensors, more
automation, and twice the productivity of our previous stitcher,"
Bogue said. "That gives us a huge competitive advantage in our
marketplace."
The ST 100 outputs up to 9,000 copies per hour, incorporates
six pockets with cover feeder, single hand-feed station, conveyor
table with batch marker, and waste removal belt.
The all-Heidelberg shop currently operates no fewer than
nine Heidelberg presses, ranging from a Speedmaster 74 4-color
model, to a pair of Speedmaster SM 52 and six Printmaster QM 46-2s.
The ST 100 saddlestitcher is the latest addition to the company's
full-service bindery, which also contains two POLAR cutters and
three Stahlfolders.
"Awesome Color with Lower Waste": Central Printing Adds Ricoh
Pro C901 with Color Management by Heidelberg
Central Printing in Beckley, W.Va., reports the installation
of a Heidelberg-supplied Ricoh Pro C901 Graphic Arts Edition
digital press. Founded more than 40 years ago, Central has evolved
from a one-color shop into a full-color, full-service commercial
printing business that now offers a broad range of services from
offset and digital printing to graphic design and mailing. The new
press-Çentral's first digital machine-is the latest in a
long line of Heidelberg-manufactured and Heidelberg-supplied
solutions that have been company mainstays for many years.
"Central enjoys a significant competitive advantage as the
first company within a 100-mile radius of Beckley to offer
sophisticated digital printing services at this level," said
company president Rick Fazio, adding that the new press already has
generated significant additional work from existing and walk-in
customers. Moreover, "Thanks to color management via Heidelberg's
Prinect Color Toolbox," he continued, "the new press enables us to
produce awesome color quality with much lower waste, and we now
save the money we used to spend outsourcing digital projects."
The longtime Heidelberg user also operates a number of
Heidelberg presses, including a 5-color Speedmaster SM 74, two
Printmaster QM 46-2s, USA B20 and B26 Stahlfolders, an ST 90
saddlestitcher, and a pair of 36" POLAR cutters. A Suprasetter A75
platesetter with Prinect prepress workflow is the linchpin of
Central's prepress department, and the company relies on Heidelberg
Saphira consumables, including Chemfree plates, along with inks,
blankets and pressroom chemistry.
Established in 1976, third-generation family owned and
operated Central Printing posts $2 million in annual sales and a
workforce of 16.
Print Version