Customers Report Gaining Market Opportunities by Investing in Heidelberg Equipment

KENNESAW, GA—Nov. 2, 2010—Heidelberg has announced the following new prepress, press and postpress product installations:

L. Brown and Sons Comes Out (Way) Ahead with Automation by Heidelberg

L. Brown and Sons Printing in Barre, VT, recently took delivery of a fully automated, continuous-feed Stahlfolder TH 82 with Level 3 automation, as well as a 6-color Speedmaster CD 74 perfector. According to company president Larry Brown, installation was complicated by an extensive public works reconstruction project directly in front of the L. Brown facility, including excavation of the pavement, and electrical, water, and sewer line replacement. To complicate matters further, both machines had to be installed on the second floor of the L. Brown facility, a process that called for creative rigging and the special expertise of skilled Heidelberg technicians. The new press and folder now sit alongside a POLAR cutting system and assorted smaller presses and bindery equipment.

“It could have been a logistical nightmare, but it all came together as a result of cooperation between our company and the City of Barre, as well to the competence and coordination displayed by our riggers and our Heidelberg technicians. It would be impossible to overstate how happy we were with the results. Even under the most trying conditions, Heidelberg personnel never let us down.” Just seven days post-installation, the new press already was running a 200,000-sheet job on 80-lb. dull text, 2/2 at the full-rated speed, with the new folder following suit. “The performance of both machines is just astounding,” Brown said.

L. Brown’s decision to acquire the TH 82 folder and CD 74 represent the next step in the company’s move to automate and network as many of its operations as possible via Heidelberg’s comprehensive Prinect workflow. The most recent upgrade saw the addition of Heidelberg’s Prinect Prinance MIS. On the equipment side, said Brown, the new folder shortly will receive a new stacker and banding unit. The company’s next acquisition is likely to be an ST 450 saddlestitcher, followed by a second 29” Heidelberg perfecting press. The company uses the complete line of Saphira products for all its consumable needs.

With 25 full-time and up to 20 temporary workers on staff, L. Brown and Sons describes itself as a general commercial printer with heavy concentrations in high-end publication printing and printing for nonprofit, healthcare and educational organizations in the Northeast, as well as in packaging. The company also houses the largest on-demand book printing operation in the state.

A new dimension in professional folding: Stahlfolder TH 82.
Peak performance for a discerning market: Speedmaster CD 74/XL 75.

Miami-Dade County Fills a Tall Order with Suprasetter 74 Plus Prinect Workflow

The print facility serving Miami-Dade County in Florida reports the installation of a Suprasetter 74 Thermal CtP device with Heidelberg Prinect workflow including JDF-based Prinect Prepress Manager prepress workflow, Prinect Pressroom Manager and Prinect Digital Print Manager, which controls and monitors the workflow for the shop’s offset and digital print output.

The facility recently completed the printing of 2,460,280 ballots for the mid-term election. These are made up, explains Graphics Services Manager Steve Schmuger, of 431 different types of multi-page ballots printed front and back for each of the county’s 827 voter precincts, produced 3-up and die-cut inline on a Heidelberg Speedmaster SM 74 2/2 perfector at 15,000 sph. “Heidelberg equipment not only is reliable,” Schmuger said, “but it can do things other equipment won’t.”

Once printed, the three-up press sheet moves to a POLAR 115 XT cutting system with Compucut, Jogging System and Transomat-E stacker. Mail order ballots for absentee voters go to a specially equipped Stahl folder that verifies each ballot, folds, slits in-line, and sends three streams to a Speedbander 603. Each stack is banded and labeled, packed in cartons, barcoded, and sent to the Election Department for mailing. It’s a tall order with multiple moving parts, Schmuger readily admits, while acknowledging the critical role played by Heidelberg’s JDF-based automation and workflow components, part of a complex network of integrated systems that enable just 20 employees to prepare and produce reams of complicated ballot materials on an unforgiving schedule.

The Suprasetter 74 with single cassette loader runs virtually hands-free, for enabling the operator to perform a variety of other prepress tasks. The Miami-Dade facility, which prides itself on meeting stringent environmental standards across its operation, also uses Heidelberg Saphira Chemfree plates and assorted low-VOC pressroom chemicals.

The most space-saving and successful CtP platesetter in its class.

Prestige Printing Adds Second POLAR Cutter To Handle Growing Volume

Prestige Printing, a general commercial printer in San Antonio, TX, is enjoying the benefits of improved cutting workflow since it installed a new POLAR 92 X high-speed automated cutter last month. The new cutter joins the company’s existing POLAR 78 X.

“We’re very blessed,” said company owner Carlos Hernandez. “We’ve been extremely busy and needed a new cutter to keep up with the added volume,” he said. “Not only can we handle larger sheet sizes up to 35 inches, but the back gauge is faster, and we also we can load up to 5 or 6 inches at a time. Our customer always receive their jobs on time, no matter how crunched we are, but the new POLAR cutter has sped up our internal processes tremendously,” he added, citing the ease-of-use, improved efficiency, cutting accuracy and dependability of the new machine.

Elsewhere in the shop, Prestige operates a Stahl USA B20 pallet-fed folder, as well as Printmaster QM 46 2-color press. The company also makes use of Heidelberg Saphira consumables including oil, grease and replacement rollers in the pressroom, as well as lubricants and wax in the cutting department.

The 10-year-old, $2 million company serves a local client base and employs a staff of 10.

Fast, efficient, programmable: POLAR 92 X for medium-sized formats.

Sticking with What Works, William Charles Installs New Printmaster QM 46

William Charles Printing in Plainview, NY, reports the installation of a new Printmaster QM 46 2-color press. The new press replaces an aging machine and restores the company’s small-format pressroom lineup to a total of three QM 46s. The shop also operates a 5-color Speedmaster SM 102, in addition to three POLAR cutters and a pair of Stahl folders.

“We run our Printmasters hard, like the workhorses they are,” said company vice president Charles Pellegrini, “and they reward us with top-quality products our customers admire year in and year out.”

Founded in 1935 by Charles Pellegrini, Sr., the third-generation, family run commercial printer serves customers throughout Long Island and into Manhattan, relying primarily on word-of-mouth and referrals to promote itself. Markets include the manufacturing, book publishing, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. In addition to high-quality offset printing, the company offers professional mailing, graphic design, marketing consulting, and digital printing services. William Charles Printing employs a staff of 45.

Productivity and flexibility in a small-format package: Printmaster QM 46.

Heidelberg Technology Enables Allied Printing To Drive Growth

Allied Printing Co., Inc. in Ferndale, MI, combines its expertise in a variety of core services with the best tools at its disposal to solve customers’ problems.

The company’s practical approach to growing a successful business has paid off in terms of customer loyalty and market reach: In addition to offering printing, mailing, information management, warehousing and fulfillment, Allied regularly collaborates with clients to develop program services and “hybrid products” tailored to the scope of customer projects.

Allied’s toolbox boasts a powerhouse pressroom lineup and a bindery stocked with Heidelberg equipment. The company operates a Heidelberg Speedmaster CD 102 6-color press, a Speedmaster SM 74 6-color perfector, and a Heidelberg GTO 2-color perfector. The company’s bindery, meanwhile, hosts a Stahl TH 82 continuous-feed folder, a pair of 45” POLAR cutting systems, and a recently acquired Varimatrix 105 CS die cutter. Allied’s pressroom also runs on Heidelberg Saphira consumables, rollers, chemicals, and binding supplies, and the company currently is negotiating a contract to purchase Saphira inks.

The purchase of a Varimatrix die cutter marks Allied’s entry into the die cutting arena, Vice President of Operations Tony Pelc said. Although it had been getting expensive to farm out the work to a third party, the primary reason for bringing the capability in house was concern “for getting our products to the market more quickly,” Pelc explained. Allied currently runs the Varimatrix for one full shift per day, seven days a week, although the company expects that growing volumes and customer demand prompt the addition of a second shift.

“The Varimatrix is a great piece of equipment supplied by a top-flight manufacturer,” Pelc said. “It has enabled us to accomplish exactly what we intended in terms of accelerated turnaround and quicker time to market.”

Established in 1952, Allied Printing Co. migrated to offset in the 1970s and thence to database and information management in the 90s, while continuing to emphasize commercial sheetfed offset printing. Today, roughly 70 percent of Allied’s printed work is offset, 30 percent digital, performed for clients involved in automotive financing, healthcare, retail, food products, medical supplies and education. The company currently employs a staff of 82 people.

The company acknowledges the critical importance of a supplier partner like Heidelberg, which delivers superior quality, along with value-added service and support.

“Heidelberg equipment is built to last and guaranteed to produce quality work,” he said. “I would never look elsewhere.”

Entry-level Varimatrix 105 CS for economical die cutting and embossing.