Heidelberg Highlights Latest Product Installations

KENNESAW, GA—Jan. 29, 2009—Heidelberg USA announces the following new prepress, press and bindery product installations:

Triangle Communications Group Upgrades Prepress Workflow with Suprasetter and Prinect Components from Heidelberg

Any graphic communications company that can point to an average annual growth rate between 20 and 40 percent certainly commands attention. Established as a 1,000-square-foot quick print shop with two employees in 1986, Triangle Communications Group (TCG), Raleigh, NC has established a record of growth and innovation that is at once a point of corporate pride and the source of its forward momentum.

TCG president Jeff Majewski is among those company owners who sought to broaden their company offerings as a hedge against the soft commercial market of the past several years. The ambitious printer has systematically upgraded its all-Heidelberg pressroom to include machines in every format size, as well as made key MIS and prepress software improvements designed to promote faster, more efficient production. Key to TCG’s success is a farsighted investment strategy, which saw the November 2009 installation of an ultra-productive Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 105 6-color hybrid UV press with extended delivery, DryStar dryer, FoilStar cold foil module and Image Control color measuring system, which the company shares with its Speedmaster CD 74 5-color perfector.

“In preparation for our step up to 40-inch format, we decided to upgrade our prepress workflow by installing a Suprasetter 102 with Prinect Prepress Manager, Meta Dimension RIP and Signa Station imposition station,” Majewski said. “Shortly thereafter, we also switched to Saphira Thermal aluminum plates, yielding an increase in efficiency from 70 to 100 percent over the competitive plates we had been using, even now that we’re burning plates 24 hours a day.”

Critical improvements have also included the installation of Heidelberg’s Prinect Prinance MIS system and Prinect Pressroom Manager workflow to handle the urgent demands of a diversified print shop. Among other benefits, Majewski said, TCG’s revamped prepress workflow “has cut our proof output time to less than 24 hours.”

“Now that we’re Prinected,” he continued, “everything is connected and accessible via computer terminal. The integration between software and hardware is just tremendous. Now we deal with facts and actualities. There’s no guesswork involved.” Best of all, Majewski said, “Heidelberg is the company that knows it all. The support they offer is tremendous. They make it all work.”

Superior to conventional standards in every way: The Heidelberg Suprasetter family.

Stolze Printing Keeps A Good Thing Going with Full Systemservice Coverage from Heidelberg

It all started with Stolze Printing’s search for a second 40” press to grace the new, 50,000-square-foot facility to which it relocated in 2007. According to company president Phil Stolze, the company had been hoping to replace its existing full-size machine with a new press that could support the company’s business expansion by doing the work of two, but was skeptical it could locate such a capable machine. That was before Stolze had an opportunity to evaluate Heidelberg’s Speedmaster XL platform, and wound up purchasing a 6-color Speedmaster XL 105 with aqueous coater three years ago, protecting the press with Heidelberg’s comprehensive Systemservice 36plus service coverage. The company recently renewed the Systemservice contract on its Speedmaster 105 for another two years, citing the security ad peace of mind arising from the knowledge that the Heidelberg service organization is “solidly behind us,” Stolze said. “Access to top-flight regional service is a big plus, and we’ve never had a problem getting parts when we’ve needed them. We think the world of our Heidelberg Systemservice people locally and maintain a close relationship with them. They consistently go above and beyond the call of duty to make sure our equipment stays up and running the way it should.”

The XL 105 is the first Heidelberg press Stolze has ever owned, and it’s fair to say the company was blown away by its performance. “Basically, there’s nothing we don’t like about the press,” said Stolze, a self-described “tough customer” from the Show Me state. “From feeder to delivery, the Speedmaster XL 105 more than lives up to its billing. It’s phenomenal to be able to run a 60-lb. coated text with heavy ink coverage at 16,000-18,000 sheets per hours without marking. From an engineering standpoint, the things that have to happen to run high-quality work at these speeds is just mind-boggling.” To date, the company has logged more than 80 million impressions on the XL 105 since it was installed.

Bridgeton, MO-based Stolze Printing has been providing print communications solutions since its founding in 1984. The company is FSC-certified, and internationally recognized for its commitment to forest stewardship. With annual sales around $10 million and a staff of 56, the company serves a large and diverse client base worldwide, including many of the largest corporations in St. Louis. Products include annual reports, corporate identity and business marketing pieces, some catalogs, and a fledgling high-end packaging business that currently represents about 5 percent of its workload. “If ink will stick on it, we’ll print it,” Stolze said.

Full service protection for your valuable investment: Heidelberg Systemservice expertise.

MARTA In-Plant Streamlines with New Press and Bindery Equipment from Heidelberg

The in-plant print department of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) may not make the trains and buses run on time, but it does print the schedules, brochures, training manuals, flyers, posters and forms on which millions of riders rely to get where they’re going, when they need to get there.

A typical job for the 30-year-old MARTA in-plant involves printing between 12,000 and 16,000 two-sided bus and rail schedules at a clip, according to an unforgiving production timetable. Because time is of the essence in fulfilling its charter, the facility recently installed a state-of-the art, 2-color Heidelberg Speedmaster 74 perfecting press to ramp up the productivity of its pressroom, along with a Stahlfolder USA B30 continuous-feed folder and a POLAR 92X paper cutter to insure its bindery could match the output of the new press. “Our bindery doesn’t slow down the workflow anymore,” reports Jim Morgan, Supervisor of Reprographics.

According to Morgan, state-of-the-art automation and user-friendly digital controls have made all the difference to his operation. “All three machines work hand-in-hand to make us more productive than we’ve ever been,” he said, adding, “Not only can we meet tight deadlines, but we’re often ahead of schedule,” giving the shop’s eight employees some unaccustomed breathing space between jobs. In the wake of the installations, press makereadies have shrunk to between five and 10 minutes, thanks to the automated wash-up and blanket cleaning features of the Speedmaster 74, which also delivers substantially better quality and sharper detail than the aging single-color press it displaced. Likewise, both the Stahlfolder B30 and POLAR 92X cutter are characterized by easy setup and high productivity output. The shop uses a variety of Heidelberg Saphira consumables, including blankets, packing, fountain solution, wash-up solution and wash-up cloths.

A wider range of half-format options: Speedmaster SM 74.
The right-sized programmable cutter for 20x27” formats: POLAR 92X .
Stahlfolder USA B30 : High-quality folding for small formats and short runs.

Bramkamp Printing Saves Time, Money with Prinect Prepress Interface

Bramkamp Printing, Cincinnati, OH, recently installed Heidelberg’s Prinect Prepress Interface to streamline the ink-key settings on its multiple Heidelberg presses.

“We used to send plates from our prepress department to the pressroom, and our press operator would have to set the ink keys manually,” said prepress Manager Craig Masencamp. “As a result, we typically needed up to 500 makeready sheets to come up to color. Now, he simply exports a CIP3 file from prepress to the press console. Prinect Prepress Interface uses the CIP3 data to automatically calculate the ink coverage percentage value per ink zone and transfer them to the press, ensuring the precise quantity of ink required for the print sheet is available to the relevant ink zones.” As a result, said Masencamp, “The press is inked up and ready to go in approximately 100 sheets, slashing waste, and saving us time and money.”

Founded in 1921, Bramkamp Printing installed one of the first Heidelberg platen presses in Cincinnati, and has steadily added Heidelberg pressroom equipment over the years. Today, the company operates a Heidelberg Quickmaster 46 2-color press, a Heidelberg Speedmaster 2-color perfector, and a 6-color Speedmaster 74 perfector with coater, for which the company recently extended its comprehensive Systemservice contract. An assortment of POLAR paper cutters, pile and continuous feed Stahlfolders, as well as a Heidelberg Cylinder die cutter and Windmill press round out the company’s lineup of Heidelberg equipment.

Bramkamp's 28 employees print a variety of general commercial materials, including marketing pieces, advertisements, company brochures and pocket folders for clients in the greater-Cincinnati area, including homebuilders, insurance agencies, hospitals and financial concerns.

The perfect link between prepress, press and postpress: Prinect Prepress Interface .

Speedmaster SM 52 Boosts Productivity, Efficiency for Grunwald Printing

Grunwald Printing of Corpus Christi, Texas recently upgraded its all-Heidelberg pressroom with the installation of a 4-color Heidelberg Speedmaster SM 52 press with aqueous coater. The company now performs more work in less time, thanks to faster makereadies during job and format changes and running speeds to 15,000 sph. Thus equipped, said company President John Grunwald, the company is better able to handle a higher volume of the high-quality short-run color and other commercial work it performs for graphic designers, ad agencies, corporations and trade clients throughout South Texas and the surrounding area. Compared with the aging 5-color press the SM 52 replaced, “We’re definitely more efficient and productive on short-run color, as well as more competitive in the marketplace,” Grunwald said.

Elsewhere in its 40,000-square-foot facility, Grunwald operates a range of hardworking Heidelberg presses, including a 5-color Speedmaster CD 102 with coater, a 2-color Speedmaster SM 102 perfector, a single-color Heidelberg KORD, and a Heidelberg Printmaster QM46 2-color press. In addition to a pair of POLAR paper cutters, Grunwald also performs die cutting, perforating and numbering using an assortment of Heidelberg Windmill and Cylinder letterpresses.

Established in 1954, family owned Grunwald Printing takes pride in its longstanding relationship with Heidelberg. “Heidelberg makes an excellent press: sturdy, solid, and reliable,” Grunwald said. “We’ve consistently had good luck with them, and the service and support has been outstanding.”

The company employs a staff of 35.

Speedmaster SM 52 : The customized concept for all your requirements.

When at First You Do Succeed: CDS Publications Installs Second POLAR Cutter

CDS Publications, Medford, Oregon, a subsidiary of Consolidated Graphics, Inc. (NYSE: CGX), reports the installation of its second high-speed, programmable POLAR 78X paper cutter to service the needs of its five-year-old digital center. Steve Brown, President, commented, “CDS acquired an additional POLAR 78X cutter based on its highly efficient performance. Both POLAR cutters are currently deployed 12 hours a day.” Brown continued, “during the company’s high volume periods, however, it is not unusual for the cutters to run around the clock.” The offset print operations of CDS also include a Stahl USA B26 folder, a Stahl B30 folder, a POLAR 137 XT Autotrim cutter, a 40” 6-color Heidelberg Speedmaster CS with inline UV coater and a 2-color Quickmaster QM 46 press.

Brown described the POLAR 78X cutters as very reliable, citing the ease-of-use, rapid set-up and automatic graphic programming that enables a mostly automated working sequence. “We’ve always had a good experience with Heidelberg, from the sale to the installation itself, to service and support after the sale,” Brown said.

Founded in 1906, CDS Publications has established a reputation for quality, on-time service and technological advancement. The company provides marketing communications and education materials for industry segments including technology, catalog and trade publishing, healthcare, finance and other commercial markets. The company’s digital center specializes in personalized photo products, on-demand book publishing and direct mail. CDS employs 150 to 350 staff at any given time, subject to seasonal fluctuations.

The high-speed cutter for four-up formats: POLAR 78 .