Extra-Large and Highly Flexible |
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| 04/04/2006 |
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Teamwork Between the Speedmaster XL 105 and Speedmaster SM 102 Long Perfecting Presses
Fast delivery, also of large jobs - Daneels Graphische Gruppe in Beerse, Belgium has applied this strategy to triple its sales in just ten years. This commercial printing outfit deploys two long perfecting presses - a Speedmaster SM 102-10-P and a Speedmaster SM 102-12-P with the Perfecting Coating Solution introduced at drupa 2004 - alongside two recently installed 40-inch presses: Speedmaster XL 105-4 and a Speedmaster XL 105-6, both with coating unit, and this constellation has enabled it to boost productivity by 15 percent. All of the presses are from Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg).
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When, ten years ago, Kris Daneels took the helm of the family-owned company, founded in 1906 in Beerse, a town of 13,000 residents 40 kilometers east of Antwerp, business was thriving. But the company had already exhausted its possibilities for growing further, at least within Belgium. "Belgium is too small for us to completely utilize our production capacities with jobs from domestic customers alone," explains the 36-year-old CEO. Daneels, a trained printer with a university degree in economics, therefore began systematically recruiting international industry leaders as customers. "If you draw a circle with a radius of 500 kilometers around our location, it contains a number of major cities including Amsterdam, London, Paris and Düsseldorf. They’re all near enough for us to maintain close ties with customers there." This proximity also enables short delivery times: finished products leaving the company’s nearly 10,000-square-meter site at ten o’clock in the evening can be in France or Britain by the next morning.
The strategy has worked like a charm. Today, the company’s nearly 100 regular customers include big-name companies such as car maker Nissan Europe, Unilever, a producer of branded goods, sanitary specialist Grohe, France Telecom and the high-tech Sony Ericsson group. No single customer accounts for more than five percent of sales, which have tripled since 1996 to over 21 million euros annually today.
And the company’s output has increased apace. Its 113 employees responsible for prepress, printing and finishing go through about 6,000 metric tons of paper a year, mainly with weights between 115 and 300 gram per square meter, to turn out commercial jobs such as brochures, pamphlets, calendars, leaflets and even books. Roughly half of the products are coated. Two shifts are worked in prepress and postpress, while the print shop operates around the clock. The average run length is about 15,000 sheets, but approximately ten percent of the jobs involve more than 100,000 copies. Nearly 30 percent of the total is exported. Daneels is determined to continue expanding from this base: with a Speedmaster XL 105-4 and a Speedmaster XL 105-6, both of which boast a coating unit. These presses, with their ability to produce at the enormous rate of 18,000 sheets per hour, are intended to make the company that crucial bit faster and more flexible - increasingly, whether or not it gets jobs depends on how fast it can deliver.
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A Technological Lead
Both Speedmaster XL 105 fit in perfectly with the company’s strategy of keeping its equipment continually up to date. Daneels replaces the machines in the pressroom and other departments every four years on average. "We need state-of-the-art equipment to increase our productivity and remain competitive," he comments to explain his decision to purchase the two Speedmaster XL 105 presses. They have taken the place of a Speedmaster CD 102-5, a Speedmaster CD 102-6 and a CD 74-5, all with coating units. And the investment has clearly paid off: "The two Speedmaster XL 105 presses have let us boost our output by over 15 percent. Now we can effortlessly handle multiple jobs at the same time, even with tight deadlines - despite having two printing units less than before."
The Flemish-speaking boss was immediately thrilled by the overall concept of the Speedmaster XL 105. He was convinced not only by its productivity and cost-effectiveness, but also by the quality it turns out. "We run most of our jobs at the top speed of 18,000 sheets an hour, with absolutely stable sheet travel," says Daneels in praise of the AirTransfer system, which contactlessly guides sheets through the press. The Preset Plus Feeder and Delivery also support precise sheet transport. Nor is that all; the commercial printing company, which mainly produces five- and six-color work, is profiting from the enhanced color fidelity of the Speedmaster XL 105. "Thanks to the Hycolor inking and dampening system, now we can lay down inks faster and more consistently, which makes for more efficient printing," explains Daneels. The InkLine Direct automatic ink supply system also facilitates monitoring and replenishing the inking units, which is essential for taking full advantage of the XL 105 capabilities.
The extensive automation and ease of operation of the Speedmaster XL 105 have made it much easier for the operators to learn the ropes, while also reducing stress levels on the job. Especially since functions like Autoplate Advanced and the Multi Loader System speed changing of plates and screen rollers so only minimal time is spent on makeready. This is important, because the average run length of 7,500 sheets means that frequent job changes are the norm. Value is also added by the larger sheet size: "This wasn’t one of our reasons for investing in the two Speedmaster XL 105 presses, but they are bringing in more and more jobs that let us utilize the maximum format, such as calendars and brochures," reports Daneels.
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Perfect Interplay
But the two Speedmaster XL 105 presses are only half of the story. It is in conjunction with the two long perfectors from Heidelberg - a Speedmaster SM 102-10-P and a Speedmaster SM 102-12-P with modular coating systems before and after the perfecting device - that they really tap into their full potential. "The four presses complement one another perfectly. They make us flexible enough to turn large jobs around at short notice, naturally in top quality," says Daneels. The jobs are assigned depending on their size: runs up to 15,000 copies go the two Speedmaster XL 105 presses, while even larger editions, which can even reach 300,000 copies, are produced on the two Speedmaster SM 102 presses. For handling small-format work, the print shop also has a Speedmaster SM 52-5 with coating unit and a Speedmaster SM 52-4.
All of the presses are linked to Prinect Prepress Interface and Prinect Image Control. Both Prinect components accelerate the printing process and make it more reliable. Prinect Prepress Interface connects the presses almost seamlessly to prepress, supplying all of the parameters for getting them ready for each new job. Prinect Image Control spectrophotometrically measures the entire sheet and calculates adjustment recommendations, which are transferred online to all connected presses. In tandem with the Prinect CP2000 Center, these Prinect components ensure extremely faithful color reproduction, for instance on repeat work on jobs that have to be divided between different presses to meet tight deadlines. "We print some jobs on three presses at once to finish them on time. For example, we might produce the cover of a brochure on one of the Speedmaster XL 105, the first 16 pages on the Speedmaster SM 102-12-P and the other 16 pages on the Speedmaster SM 102-10-P," explains Daneels.
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Flexible Production
In his opinion, this is only possible because the print quality achievable on the long perfectors is virtually indistinguishable from that delivered by the straight-printing presses. "We also produce high-quality products like art reproductions on the two Speedmaster SM 102 presses. Their high print quality is what lets us spread jobs among more than one press to gain speed." Thanks to "One Pass Productivity", the two Speedmaster SM 102 presses, which together have already produced 75 million impressions, have a net output of about 11,000 sheets an hour - printed on both sides.
Besides speed, Daneels values the flexibility of the Speedmaster SM 102, for instance where coating is concerned. Over half of the jobs printed on the Speedmaster SM 102-12-P are coated. Thanks to the Perfecting Coating Solution, the company can lay down either five colors plus overprint varnish on each side, or else six-over-six colors - depending on what the customer wants. "This flexibility is an enormous advantage, because our business is all about delivering maximum quality on time and at a good price," stresses Daneels. And he has achieved this goal with his four 40-inch presses: "Today we generate a larger sales volume with the same number of staff. In fact, we have even extended our capacity." So this success story in 40-inch format is set to continue!
Caption 1:
CEO Kris Daneels is more than happy with the productivity of the Speedmaster XL 105.
Caption 2:
Daneels also produces long runs of up to 300,000 sheets on the four big presses.
Caption 3:
Flexible and fast: the 12-color Speedmaster 102-12-P with sheet reversal and coating unit.
Caption 4:
An employee uses Prinect Image Control to measure the tonal values of a sheet. Meticulous quality control ensures consistently first-rate results, even when a job is divided up among multiple presses.
Caption 5:
A partnership for success: Steve Debloem, product manager at Heidelberg Belgium, und print shop boss Kris Daneels (right).
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The Daneels Graphic Group
Dennenlaan 5
B-2340 Beerse
Belgium
Tel: +32 (0)14 61 10 13
Fax: +32 (0)14 61 65 36
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