Offset Installation Roundup: 2nd Quarter ’15

Shorter runs of press and faster makereadies are all the rage, but digital printing presses don’t always have the edge. There are numerous variables, of course, that determine which reproduction platform works most efficiently and economically for a given print service provider (PSP), and many firms still choose conventional offset lithography for their applications.

As the second half of 2015 moves into its dog-days phase, MyPRINTResource looks back at Q2 and a handful of offset installations announced recently by Heidelberg, KBA, Komori, and Ryobi MHI across the US: from Alabama to Kansas, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. (Editor’s note: This list is just a smattering of reported installs and is by no means meant to be comprehensive or all inclusive.)

Hadley Printing

Hadley Printing, Holyoke, MA, purchased a third Komori press – a five-color Lithrone GL540C (40-inch) model -- to support its growing business. The third-generation, family-owned company has learned how to evolve over the course of more than 100 years of operating in New England.

“Komori is always improving its technology, but to ensure we made the right decision when it was time for a new press, we did our due diligence,” explained president Chris Desrosiers. “We looked at three other manufacturers and the technology each provided. Komori had the best overall package with the type of advanced technology that immediately translates into efficiencies. We plan to double our run times with this press and reduce our makeready by 50 percent. In an operation as busy as ours, where everything is based on volume, we know this press will support our growth by getting quality work out the door quickly.”

Hadley Printing is most impressed with the fact an operator can control so much of the GL540C’s processes straight from the console. Mentioned specifically were the KHS-AI system, intelligent software with a self-learning function to adjust register and color matching within 20 sheets of print start up, and the PDC-SX print density control capability that controls densities and automatically adjusts register.

J&J Printing

J&J Printing, a Tangent Corporation in Lenexa, KS, took delivery of a six-up Ryobi MHI 750 XLG Packaging Edition press purchased through distributor Graphco. J&J Printing is the first print firm in the Kansas City area to offer instant LED-UV curing, which is featured on the new press.

“My partner Wayne Welkner and I saw the Ryobi MHI press at Graph Expo last year and fell in love with it,” recalled Jim Ferguson, co-owner and VP of J&J Printing, which is a former Kwik Kopy franchise. “We needed to upgrade our equipment and, originally, thought we’d have to buy a used press because that’s what our budget dictated,” he explained. However, that was before Graphco encouraged Ferguson and Welkner to take a hard look at the total cost of ownership (TCO) of purchasing a new RYOBI MHI press.

“We did our research, saw the benefits, and decided that we have to make this jump,” Ferguson continued, adding that J&J Printing is shifting from DI technology to Ryobi Smart Insta.Color as it replaces a five-color 14x20 DI and two 12x18-inch DI presses with their new Ryobi MHI 754XLG in its 12,000-square-foot plant. Between the much faster make-ready times, three-up (11x17) gang runs and reduced payroll hours, J&J Printing management estimates a return on investment (ROI) in a few short years. “We anticipate a significant cost-of-goods reduction as well,” Ferguson noted, as there will be lower paper and plate costs on higher-page-count jobs when compared to running two-up on the DI presses. “And we can now compete on larger format jobs that weren’t available to us in the past.”

Ferguson added that he and Welkner believe that LED-UV is “the wave of the future.” Eliminating powder in the pressroom and being more energy-efficient are additional benefits from an environmental standpoint. He concludes, “Going right to finishing, after instant curing, is quite an interesting proposition.”

But why spend more for the Packaging Edition version of the Ryobi MHI 750XLG? That was a question that J&J Printing debated internally. “Ultimately, we decided that the added profitability of printing on thicker substrates, synthetics and plastics will make it worthwhile,” Ferguson said. “We’ve been searching for a new niche for the past few years and think short-run, boutique packaging will be it. We have a number of sales people who have sold packaging in the past and they will be hitting the streets with this new capability in the coming weeks.”

JP Graphics

JP Graphics, Appleton, WI, purchased a six-color Komori Lithrone G40 with advanced automation that made it possible to replace two competitive presses in its 50,000-square-foot plant. JP supports a diversified client base that includes advertising agencies, marketing firms, and large publishers. It plans to double its output and significantly reduce waste and consumables with the GL640 versus the previous two. The Lithrone G40’s robust features include Komori’s revolutionary KHS-AI intelligent software with self-learning, as well as automatic plate changing that minimize set-up time, enabling the company to produce shorter run work profitably and with the highest level of image and color quality its clients demand.

“Since our inception in 1969, we’ve made it a point to utilize the most current technology, and from our research found that Komori presses were at the leading edge,” said owner/president Rod Stoffel. “We work every day to ensure we are providing the highest-quality product in a timely manner, while keeping costs affordable. Komori’s presses offer more features and are more cost-effective than any machine on the market today. The value we know we are going to get from choosing Komori outweighed that of any other manufacturer.”

Prystup Packaging Products

Paperboard folding carton and packaging manufacturer Prystup Packaging Products, Livingston, AL, has moved to VLF (very large format) offset with a 57-inch Speedmaster XL 145 from Heidelberg. In what it described as a customer-driven decision propelled by the need for increased speed and quality, Prystup has installed the six-color SM press with aqueous coater and extended delivery. Chosen for its overall performance and efficiency, it is the first large-format offset press for the former 40-inch commercial enterprise, which has operated for 35 years.
“The new Heidelberg press has opened up new markets and potential new revenue streams for us,” said manufacturing VP Jason Guin. “Although we are a small, independent packaging company, the large-format XL 145 puts us in a better position to compete with much larger firms.” While acknowledging his company still needs to develop the business needed to “max out” the XL 145, he said, “It will be exciting to see the true extent of its capabilities as we continue to grow.” According to Guin, the company has reserved a portion of its training time with Heidelberg for the future “as we wait to see what our weaknesses will be.”

The company began running its XL 145 during a 40-hour, four-day shift, later adding a second 40-hour shift to accommodate growing volume. Initially four people were used to man the press across a single shift to take advantage of the training. Prystup Packaging now mans the press with a crew of three per shift. Benefits include fast makereadies, and what Guin termed “eye-opening” productivity. “The XL 145 just eats up folding carton work,” he said. At present, the company handles both short- and long-run jobs ranging from 500 sheets up to more than 100,000 sheets. Top quality is a given, thanks to Prinect Inpress Control for inline color and register control, which Guin said “works beautifully. The press achieves on-color sheets very quickly, and maintains specified Delta E readings throughout the entire run.”

Prystup’s new large-format press is located in 90,000 square feet of manufacturing facility, which was added to the company’s Alabama campus 14 months ago. Heidelberg helped specify a new slab for the Speedmaster XL 145, consulted on its construction and approved everything prior to installation, Guin said. He also noted that the installation of the press was extremely smooth. “Everything happened right on cue. We’re totally satisfied with the overall experience.”

Heidelberg VLF presses are the most environmentally friendly machines in their class. An Energy Meter device can be used to measure the presses' energy efficiency per 1,000 sheets during production and displays this information on the Wallscreen of the Prinect Press Center. This allows the operator to run the machines with outstanding energy-efficiency values. The Star System peripherals are perfectly coordinated with the presses, highly efficient and designed to save energy and resources. Reducing or completely eliminating the use of alcohol by equipping the presses with special packages makes another important contribution to ensuring environmentally friendly print production. This results in a print process that delivers eco-friendly operation at low costs.

TPC Printing & Packaging

Celebrating its 90th anniversary in 2014, TPC Printing & Packaging has kept the positive momentum moving into 2015 with the spring installation of its new eight-color KBA Rapida 105 41-inch press with full UV capabilities and inline coater along with board and plastic packages to its 150,000-square-foot facility in Chattanooga, TN -- and reveling in another record-setting sales year with a double-digit sales increase over last year. 

“There are a number of key distinctions that differentiate our company from our competitors,” noted Joey Schmissrauter, president of TPC Printing & Packaging. “Ninety-five percent of our sales are derived from a select niche market—producing specialty decorated, shaped, and printed folded cartons for the retail shelf—for a group of world-class consumer retailers and well-known brand names in the distilled spirits, over-the-counter pharmaceutical, cosmetic, fragrance, and health and beauty industries that sit in the first or second position of their segment. These firms require highly-decorated, highly-visible packaging with extensive printing processes calling for eight to nine machine passes through value-added processes….”

TPC’s new Rapida 105 press is equipped with full automation including plate changing and specially-equipped board and plastic packages, full UV capabilities, plus KBA’s unique ErgoTronic ColorControl automatic color measuring system. “The ongoing trend in our industry has been to produce shorter run length jobs,” Schmissrauter acknowledged. “Our challenge is to reduce our makeready times and, thus, turn our jobs around much faster. When we visited the KBA factory in Dresden [Germany] to test the press, we sent three of our most complicated eight-color jobs to test-run. The Rapida press was able to makeready all three in 53 minutes. That was very impressive.”

Customers have indicated to Schmissrauter that his firm is in line for new major business this upcoming year. To keep abreast of customer expectations, TPC’s new Rapida press also is equipped with a complete UV drying system. Where TPC has an edge is that its UV system from KBA is a cartridge system giving TPC the flexibility to move the UV around on the press where it is needed, unlike competitor systems that are fixed units. TPC also added a plastics package to its Rapida press to allow it to better handle MPE and plastics printing.

Schmissrauter and his siblings keep a firm, personalized hand managing the family-owned business. Each of them oversees a particular niche—from spirits, to over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, to cosmetics and fragrances—providing custom one-on-one knowledge for its complex work. Customers are pleased to be working with ownership, he said, rather than an outside sales force. It’s been a huge differentiator for the firm’s success.

The new Rapida replaced an older six-color non-KBA press, and TPC continues to operate its existing eight- and two-color non-KBA presses. Schmissrauter also plans to successfully complete the rigorous certification process involved in becoming a G7 Master Printer with the new KBA. In the past three years his family’s firm has added a two-color press with inline coating and a second silkscreen press. With the addition of the KBA Rapida eight-color press, total press inventory now includes two eight-color, one six-color, one two-color, and two silkscreen presses.