Midtown Printing Co., Inc., a long-established family business owned by the Claudio family and managed by the Atega family in Davao City, Mindanao, Philippines, recently invested in a new Speedmaster CX 92 Push to Stop model, equipped with a full Prinect Production Manager software suite.
"We wanted to be the first commercial print house in the Philippines to take the step into the new HEIDELBERG features of Push to stop, giving us a market leadership with the latest, high production technology,” explained Mr. Gabriel Atega, President and General Manager.
“For us, the selection of the Speedmaster CX 92 was a perfect fit for our business. We produce short-run, high-quality school yearbooks, and the format size was ideal for this. Due to rising raw material costs, the plate savings offered as standard by the new CX 92 format were also highly appealing to us. Combined with the potential paper waste savings through the Prinect color measuring system—fully integrated with the Prinect Production Manager software—we are now able to implement a leaner production setup, which of course saves costs. When we learned that the new Speedmaster CX 92 press came with the latest Push to Stop features, we knew it would fit our current and future requirements exactly,” says Mr. Alpha Atega, VP for Production at Midtown Printing.
“VJ7 Printing and Packaging Inc. believes inleveraging on technology as one of its pillarsof strategic growth.” - President, Mr. Enrico Santos
VJ7 Printing and Packaging Inc. (Philippines) invests in a new Speedmaster CX 104-6+L Press and a complete set ofautomated Postpress Packaging equipment from Heidelberg.
VJ7 Printing started its modest operations 25 years ago servicing the requirements of Fatima College, now known as Our Lady of Fatima University. Mr. Enrico Santos, the owner, named the company after his parents - Vicente and Juliet and the 7 children, hence the name - VJ7.
In 2014, VJ7 embarked on its first expansion mode when it relocated to a 2,800 sqm site along Maysan, Valenzuela City. This is where its new printing plant was built and the installation of a HEIDELBERG four-color, Speedmaster CD 102 Offset press and several other postpress finishing equipment, also from HEIDELBERG. It was later followed by another installation of the HEIDELBERG Speedmaster XL 75, four-color machine to supplement production. Year on year, VJ7 has grown and it has set its sight on becoming a one-stop shop for a diverse range of printed products.
Louie Gerard “Luigi” Abiva heads the third generation management team of the Abiva family-owned Hiyas Press Inc., which celebrates half a century of printing in 2019. The company specializes in educational materials such as textbooks, published by its 83 year-old sister company, Abiva Publishing House, Inc. It also prints magazines, brochures, posters and yearbooks.
“Competition among printing companies has grown stiff and has become a neck-and-neck race,” says Luigi. “Each printer tries to outdo the other-introducing innovations and upgrading its services.”
Hiyas Press started using HEIDELBERG pre-press machines in 2004, using computer-to-film (CtF) equipment. In 2010 it shifted to computer-to-plate (CtP), running 12 plates per hour. "We used a detached CtP and processor and were operating for 24 hours then," recalls Luigi. He then sold the machine and upgraded to two CtP machines running 18 plates per hour for each machine.
"I thought it was enough but still we were operating 24 hours and there was a need for a helper to feed and transfer the plate to the processor. Labor cost was getting high, too," says Luigi.
In March 2019, Hiyas Press invested in innovation by installing a 45 plates per hour Suprasetter 106 CtP platemaker with a dual casette loader and turntable. “We needed more output on the plates and do away with two shifts," says Luigi. "We now have just a single shift and one operator, with no need for an assistant operator."
Productivity has vastly improved, with the highest output so far recorded at 47 plates per hour. Luigi highlights the Suprasetter benefits: "This was much faster than the 2 CtPs combined, with less labor. And there is no need to run 24 hours. I would say although the machine is expensive it is more efficient, same cost of having 3 CtP's and less labor."
Hiyas Press has long banked on HEIDELBERG for fast, efficient and reliable equipment. Aside from the Suprasetter 106, it has a 4-color Speedmaster SM 74 and 2-color Sorz. It also relies on HEIDELBERG for 80% of its consumables like plates, inks, developers and machine parts.
"We certainly would highly recommend the Suprasetter to our colleagues in the industry, if topnotch efficiency is what you're after," Luigi asserts. He adds: "Seamless integration with other HEIDELBERG machines allows for shorter make ready time and less paper waste."
With innovation at the core of its business, Hiyas Press is set to lead the industry for the next 50 years.
Established in 1987, Studio Graphics Corporation provides high-quality printing to its customers with very competitive prices in the market. Their printing company started with only two machines and four people but with dedication and passion for excellence, the company now employs 35 regular staff. Its current Chairman is Ricardo Veloso while Rebecca Veloso and Mario Veloso are the President and Vice President respectively.
Based in Quezon City, Philippines, Studio Graphics has been using Heidelberg’s Speedmaster 102-4 SE since 2012 while the SM 74-4 in 2016 to print, Suprasetter 106 prepress and post press services for publication and production of leaflets, magazines, school books, and coffee table books. Majority of their clients are from the government, education and finance sectors.
According to Mr. Mario Veloso, Vice President of Studio Graphics Corporation, since they started using SM 74-4 and SM 102-4 SE from Heidelberg, they have achieved an average run length of 5,000 good sheets per job and 90,000 sheets per shift. Their average production speed also reached an all-time high of 15,000 sheets per hour. On the average, of a 5,000 sheet job, they can finish it less than an hour.
Mario Veloso said “Our Speedmaster’s outstanding record was proven when we produced a series of high-end computer text books. There were a total of 22 books with each book averaging 250 pages and we finished everything in only 2.5 weeks.”
“I will definitely recommend buying Speedmaster to my colleagues in printing because of its reliability, durability of service, brand and proven excellence on productivity,” added Mario Veloso.
