The Messenger Press Meets Demand for Short-Run Work with Ryobi MHI Perfector

SOLON, Ohio—June 25, 2015—The Messenger Press, a commercial print firm in Northwest Ohio, is completing the installation of a new, 23.83X31” RYOBI MHI 755 XLGP perfecting press with aqueous coater purchased through Graphco, the RYOBI MHI graphic technology distributor. “It’s like Christmas in June,” remarked Mitch Kremer, who along with Allan Kremer leads the 133 year old printing firm. “We are excited to put our new addition through the paces.”

Situated just over the Indiana border, 120 miles east and north of Indianapolis, The Messenger Press has seen its share of evolutionary changes in its 133 years in business. “This will be our main production machine for short-run offset,” reported Kremer, who joined the firm six years ago and became a vice president in early 2012. “It will bring us into the next 10 to 15 years.” Messenger is replacing a 2001 vintage six-color (2 over 4) sheetfed perfector from a different manufacturer.

“There is a lot more automation on the new press,” Kremer added. “There is better registration and less make-ready, which means it’s quicker and we can turn more jobs in a shorter [amount of] time,” he said. “One of our goals is to get to sellable color while wasting less paper” on the direct mail and other work printed at Messenger Press. “Smart Insta.Color makes that easy,” he said. Another key feature that Kremer and his team like is the robust feeder. “It’s beefed up and is more heavy-duty, with less strapping,” he noted. “16,000 sheets/hr. will help on all of our work, and with no electrical cabinet near the feeder there’s more room to work.”

Kremer traveled to RYOBI MHI customers in Cleveland and Cincinnati to observe similar perfector presses in action. “We saw the LED-UV feature on the press in Atlanta, too,” he recalled, in addition to chatting via phone with some East Coast plants. John Arnold, the technical service manager for Graphco, then “walked us through the design changes and improvements on our specific configuration.”

“We’re a job shop,” Kremer continued, “so we will need to determine where best to put the work: on our MGI digital press or the new RYOBI. When we consider the final trim size and finishing requirements of a job, we find that it can be faster to run 2,000 on the RYOBI MHI 755 XLGP than on the digital press.” The bottom line, he said, is operating as efficiently and leanly as possible—no matter which output technology is used.

This major investment continues a longstanding tradition of constant technology improvements at The Messenger Press. “Our clients appreciate our great customer service and state of the art equipment,” Kremer concluded. Diana Griffith, account manager for Graphco added, “we are thrilled to continue our nearly 20 year relationship with Allan and Mitch. The Messenger Press was the first of our MGI users to upgrade to the new Meteor 8700XL. They installed our first Horizon StitchLiner in the area and this new RYOBI will clearly give them a leading position in Northwest Ohio.”

About The Messenger Press
For more than 100 years The Messenger Press has worked to bring true value to clients around the world. We are committed to upholding that longstanding tradition by providing more than 175 years of combined experience with leading-edge technology to produce printed materials of exceptional quality. Strong, lasting relationships are the core of our organization. These include our clients, vendors, team and community. Those relationships, and all we do, are driven by our honesty, integrity and dependability. Personal service and accountability are key to those relationships. We are quality-driven. We identify and solve problems before they happen, and getting it right the first time is our goal.

About Graphic Systems North America (GSNA)
GSNA is the largest independent source of printing equipment, technical service and parts in North America. GSNA delivers exclusive access to RYOBI MHI’s full line of offset and digital presses for commercial, packaging and in-plant printers in the U.S. and Canada, together with immediate technical support and parts fulfillment. Formed in July 2013 with co-headquarters in four U.S. states and two Canadian provinces, the GSNA group has more than $60 million in revenue and constitutes the single largest offset press sales and service team in North America.

About Graphco
Graphco is the industry’s leading provider of offset, digital and print finishing solutions. We proudly import the RYOBI MHI line of new offset printing presses featuring LED-UV curing technology and Insta-Color automated make-ready. Our popular Packaging Edition presses and all RYOBI MHI presses offer best-in-class reliability and durability. These brands are only as good as the value-added and technical support team that stands behind them. Graphco’s reputation for top-notch service is second to none. Since 1976, Graphco has thrived in an ever-changing market place by loyally adhering to the firm’s original model for success: providing best-in-class print production equipment along with reliable and assured technical service.

Source: RYOBI MHI.