Ambitious Printers Get 'State of the Art' with Heidelberg Technology

KENNESAW, GA—June 30, 2009—Heidelberg USA announces the following new product installations:

Abbott Printing Installs Prepress, Press and Postpress Solutions from Heidelberg

Abbott Printing in Maitland, FL, recently took delivery of a Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 105 4-color press with aqueous coater, a Heidelberg Suprasetter 105 computer-to-plate device, and a fully automated Stahl TH 82 folder, also from Heidelberg.

According to general manager Bob Stokes, “The XL 105 absolutely has taken us to the next level. We used to be a half-size shop, but we now can compete with the full-size market. What’s most impressive to me is that if a job aqueous coats – and it’s probably safe to say that 60 percent of jobs these days are aqueous coated - there’s not another press that can compete with the XL 105, even if it’s an 8-color perfector with coating tower.” He adds that the XL 105’s larger format also has enabled the company to win more jobs by placing more up on a sheet. “And we don’t fight marking,” Stokes points out. “This truly is a markless press.”

In full production since the end of March, Abbott’s Speedmaster XL 105 is doing what it is supposed to do, Stokes adds, with a special nod to the integrated Inpress Control, which automatically measures and controls color and register on the fly at any speed.

“Inpress Control is phenomenal. We’re down to five-minute makereadies and fewer than 200 sheets of paper to come up to color. Our savings on paper makeready alone is more than enough to justify the cost of the scanner,” Stokes said. “In 36 years, I have never seen a piece of equipment like this with the capabilities and technology built into it to fully makeready a press sheet with no adjustments from the operator. And the Speedmaster XL 105 does it day in and day out. “

Simultaneous with the addition of the new Speedmaster XL 105, Abbott also installed an 8-up Suprasetter 105 CtP device to produce the 1800-2000 plates it runs each month on both the XL 105 and an existing Speedmaster CD 74 5-color perfector. The Suprasetter is equipped with multiple laser heads for additional speed. In Abbott’s bindery, a new Stahl TH 82 folder with full automation and gatefold attachment has earned Stokes’ admiration for makereadies that clock in at less than five minutes, with automatic adjustment of roller settings via electronic measurement of the substrate and buckle plate setting from the imposition library or retrieved from job memory.

“The device literally sets itself,” Stokes explains. “You preprogram the makereadies, and the TH 82 automatically sets the gaps and buckle plate distance – and gets it right on the first try!”

The company also operates a pair of standalone POLAR cutters, and uses a range of Heidelberg Saphira pressroom consumables, including blankets and wash-up cloths.

Established in 1977, family owned and operated Abbott Printing is a high-quality, full-service commercial printer with an in-house mailing facility. The company employs a staff of 53.

Find out more about the ultra-high-performance, ultra-productive Speedmaster XL 105. Click here.

Tucson Printer Banishes Downtime with QM 46-2 from Heidelberg

AlphaGraphics 153 (Cooper Enterprises, Inc.) in Tucson, AZ recently added a Heidelberg Printmaster QM 46 2-color press to relieve the load on an aging QM 46-2, which had “outlived” its original service contract. According to owner Keith Cooper, the new press is “a real workhorse” that handles “spot color work, everything,” in addition to saving on labor, time, service calls and downtime. “It’s also easier to produce a good quality piece on the new press,” Cooper added. The small commercial printer produces about 250 Heidelberg Cristala plates each month on its Heidelberg Quicksetter.

Founded in 1986, the family owned AlphaGraphics franchise employs a staff of 14 and serves a local clientele. Annual revenue is in the $1.5 million range.

For a closer look at the Printmaster QM 46, click here.

Indiana Printer and Direct Mailer Brings Saddlestitching Home

Lithographic Communications, a general commercial printer and direct mailer in Munster, IN, now keeps a considerable volume of booklet work in-house since it installed a Stitchmaster ST 90 saddlestitcher in March. The saddlestitcher comes equipped with fourth and fifth knives, cover feeder and hand feed station, and is controlled via user-friendly touchscreen. The company expects to reap substantial business benefits as a result of its first venture into professional saddlestitching, based on faster turnaround speeds and improved quality made possible by the ST 90, especially as compared with outsourcing, according to general manager Rich Pietrzak.

Established in 1988 and with 45 employees, Lithographic Communications provides a national clientele with a wide variety of products printed on its Heidelberg Speedmaster 74 2-color and Printmaster PM 74 4-color perfecting presses, including booklets, brochures, business cards, self-mailers, card mailers and promotional materials. The company also operates a Heidelberg Prosetter 74 violet platesetter, in which it uses Heidelberg Saphira violet plates and Saphira chemistry. Lithographic’s bindery houses a pair of Stahl B22 folders and a standalone POLAR 92 X programmable paper cutter.

A perfect match for short- to medium-run jobs. Learn more here.

Speedmaster CD 102 Does Double Duty at Loftin Printing

Loftin Printing in Charlotte, NC reports the installation of a Speedmaster CD 102 6-color press with coater. The new press, which replaces the company’s existing 2-color Heidelberg GTO and Speedmaster CD 74 machines, not only has absorbed the work of those two presses, but has given Loftin the additional capacity it needed to compete on complex projects it used to turn away. Case in point: the 4-color process with coating, high-end carton, label and brochure the company recently produced for an ad agency customer, all in a single day.

“Not only does the new press come up to color within 150 sheets, saving time, material and labor,” said owner Bill Loftin, “but we’re also running 75 percent of our jobs at trouble-free speeds over 14,000 sph. We have significantly increased our sales without increasing our manpower.” Installation and training went off “without a hitch,” he noted, adding that Loftin’s press operators, who initially were “a little suspicious” of the new machine, were now thoroughly comfortable with the automated features of the new machine, especially the easy-to-use Press Center touchscreen console.

Loftin Printing also operates a pair of Stahlfolders, a POLAR paper cutter and a Heidelberg cylinder die cutting press. The company saved $600 a month by eliminating the use of alcohol in its pressroom and switching to alcohol-free Heidelberg Saphira fountain solution. As a result, it expects to receive a more favorable Air Quality Control rating and a reduction in its licensing fee. Loftin also makes use of Saphira Perfect Dot Blankets and ink foils.

Founded in 1898 and with 25 employees, $4.5 million Loftin Printing is a third-generation, family owned commercial printer specializing in corporate literature, promotional and multicolor printing for Charlotte-area ad agencies, nonprofits, as well as educational and industrial accounts.

To learn more about the versatile Speedmaster CD 102, click here.

Precision Litho Invests in Speedmaster SM 52 Anicolor and Declares It ’Everything It’s Cracked Up to Be’

While it trades on quality and craftsmanship, Precision Litho Service in Clearwater, FL recognizes the need to provide both in a timely manner. The fourth-generation, family owned commercial printer found exactly what it was looking for in a Heidelberg Speedmaster SM 52 5-color Anicolor machine with inline aqueous coater it installed in March, replacing a Heidelberg GTO 5-color press and a competitive 6-color, 28” sheetfed machine. Precision Litho chose the new press over a digital model – not only because of the “considerable” consumables and click charges associated with the digital machine, but because the speed, versatility and substrate flexibility of the Anicolor press would better serve its business needs.

“In terms of sheer quality, there definitely has been an upgrade,” said General Manager Roy Vice. “The press is easy to get to color. We’ve been in full production for less than two months and we’re already working on getting our makeready down to 30 sheets, whether we’re printing full PMS, four-color, metallics, you name it. Our operators will tell you that the new press is everything it was cracked up to be.”

Vice is especially pleased with the laydown of the aqueous coating, which he termed “substantial,” adding, “We just printed some promotional postcards on the Anicolor machine, and they look great.” He considers the SM 52’s ability to handle a wide range of substrates from text weight to 24-pt. board a significant competitive advantage against digital, and promotes the capability accordingly.

And there are other competitive advantages, Vice observes. “In terms of format size, the SM 52 Anicolor’s short makereadies enable us to compete with digital presses on short-run work, but because of the high speed of the press and the fast makereadies we also can compete on longer-run projects with multiple forms. The press captures most of the work handled by both previous presses.”

The longtime Heidelberg customer also operates three POLAR paper cutters with jogger/left/Transomat attachments, and a Stitchmaster ST 350 8-pocket saddlestitcher with Rima stacker.

With 65 employees and revenue in the $10 million range, Precision Litho serves a primarily regional client base made up of pharmaceutical, educational and manufacturing concerns. The company takes a long view of its equipment investment. “One of our chief concerns is always long-term viability for the money,” Vice said. “When you add up the advantages of Heidelberg service and craftsmanship, the math is irresistible. You just know you’re getting a solid piece of iron you can use reliably for a very long time.”

For more about the revolutionary Speedmaster SM 52 Anicolor, click here.

Speedmaster SM 52 Proves a Niche Maker for N.C. Commercial Printer

“My expectations were high,” said Joey Sogluizzo, plant manager for Riverside Printing in Rocky Mount, NC, of the Heidelberg Speedmaster SM 52 5-color with coater the company installed in March. His requirements for a press that would enable Riverside to produce high-quality, short-run color conventionally were straightforward: “I wanted this press to achieve quick makeready, producing a sellable sheet much faster and more economically, and be able to do so consistently.”

In full production for four months now, the Speedmaster SM 52 has more than proven its mettle in every regard. “The press did what Heidelberg promised it would do,” Sogluizzo said. “Not only have we established a niche in the regional market for short-run, small-format color, but we now can make more productive and efficient use of our 40-inch equipment,” on which Riverside had been running some of its short-run color work. Riverside’s press operators reportedly love the SM 52’s fast, easy makeready, and Sogluizzo praises the high-end quality of the printing itself, which he contrasts with the “pleasing color” available with comparable digital machines.

Elsewhere in its 60,000-square-foot facility, Riverside operates two Heidelberg Printmaster QM 46-2s, together with Heidelberg cylinder and windmill presses for die cutting and scoring. The company provides commercial printing, die cutting, folding and gluing, and mailing and fulfillment services to a regional client base located in and around Greenville, Raleigh, Roanoke Rapids and Halifax, NC. Its 50 full-time employees boast an average 15 years’ experience in the printing industry.

Quality, speed, and efficiency: the Speedmaster SM 52.

Thomson-Shore Cuts Costs, Boosts Quality with Speedmaster SM 102 Perfector

Book manufacturer Thomson-Shore, Inc., Dexter, MI improved its capacity by 10 percent as soon as it replaced an existing Speedmaster 74 4-color press with a brand-new Speedmaster SM 102 6-color perfector. That was just the beginning. According to Carl Trisdale, press/prepress manager, the new press also has enabled Thomson-Shore to reduce the number of shifts running four-color process work from four to as few as one, and to produce in-house the four-color text and insert jobs it had previously (and expensively) farmed out. At the same time, Trisdale reported, the company’s average production speed has improved by 100 percent, along with its productivity on four-color covers and jackets.

“Covers and jackets we used to run at 150 line screen we now run at 300 line screen and the colors just pop,” Trisdale said. “We’ve even fingerprinted our older press (a Speedmaster SM 74 perfector) to the new Speedmaster.” The company also has a two-color Speedmaster SM 102.

Trisdale is hard-pressed to name just one feature of the new machine that pleases him the most, although he cites the Speedmaster’s mark-free perfecting as a “big advantage,” along with the seamless interaction of the Press Center console and nonstop Preset Plus feeder that adjusts automatically to format and printing stock.

Following “one of the easiest, fastest startups ever,” Thomson-Shore’s operators were trained and running within three weeks, and running production numbers within two months, Trisdale said. “The operators are excited about new opportunities for our company with the additional flexibility the new six color press has to offer.”

An expert book manufacturer, Thomson-Shore prints and binds both perfect bound (paper back or soft cover) and case bound books for university presses, religious institutions and many trade publishers, with a specialty in short- to medium run volumes. The company, which has been in business for 37 years, employs a workforce of 260 and is employee owned.

For a profile of the Heidelberg Speedmaster SM 102, click here.

Heidelberg Systemservice Helps Westland Printers Achieve a Smooth Move

When you set out to move a piece of printing equipment as large and sophisticated as a 6-color Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 105, a four-mile move across town can be every bit as nerve-wracking as 400-mile trek. Just ask Mike Brynes, pressroom manager at Westland Printers, Laurel, MD, which recently merged with another local printer (S&S Graphics) when its building lease expired. With the help of Heidelberg Systemservice experts, however, the move went off without a hitch - and with four days to spare off the estimated timeline.

“Heidelberg helped us every step of the way,” Brynes said. “From the initial site inspection and preparation to the dismantling of the press to the pre- and post-move quality testing, Heidelberg technicians supervised the activities of the professional riggers during the move itself, reconfigured our software, and made sure our IT data transferred intact. Heidelberg mechanics even stayed on site for an additional week after the re-installation to troubleshoot any problems. The peace of mind that comes from knowing you’re in such capable hands is enormous. Based on our experience during this move,” Brynes added, “I’m absolutely convinced that Heidelberg provides the best value in the business for the services we needed – at a very competitive price.”

In the year-and-a-half since it was originally installed, Westland’s Speedmaster XL 105 has transformed the company’s pressroom operations. “It brought us out of the Stone Age in terms of our makeready times and productivity,” Brynes said. “Our run speeds are double what they were, with no lag time whatsoever. We literally can print in the morning and deliver in the afternoon.” Thanks to the care and attention of Heidelberg’s installation and relocation technicians, Brynes added, it’s business as usual at Westland Printers’ new location.

Besides the Speedmaster XL 105, Westland also relocated a 2-color Speedmaster SM 102 perfector, a 5-color GTO and a pair of standalone POLAR cutters. The merged company has around 100 employees.