Skinner & Kennedy Positioned for Growth with Komori Spica Perfector Press

ROLLING MEADOWS, IL—Dec. 10, 2012—Komori America has installed a 29˝, four-color Spica offset perfecting press at Skinner & Kennedy in St. Louis, MO. For more than a century, Skinner & Kennedy has printed a variety of calendars and other promotional products that often require fast turnaround for orders that can range from 1,000 to 50,000 finished items. Because promotional production involves preprinting the basic applications, and then a second run to print customer-specific information, the Spica's full automation has proven ideal for the company's needs.

The new press replaced two older Komori Sprint presses. Though featuring a compact footprint and a 29˝ sheet format, the Spica offers all the automation of larger presses, including Komori's legendary quick makeready capabilities to speed frequent changeovers, pre-programmable ink fountain setting, the PQC Print Quality Control system with CIP4 compatibility and automatic wash-up.

“Our calendars run in a variety of sizes, from 19x26˝ down to some smaller sizes,” said Chuck Pecher, president and owner of Skinner & Kennedy. “On the Spica, we have the choice of running one-, two- or four-up, which works very well for our needs. The electronics on it are great—the makereadies, the wash-ups, all make it the perfect choice for our environment. We do a lot of one- and two-color work and two-over-two. It’s a perfecting press, so it fits just about everything we print.

“The Spica’s doing more than the work of two presses,” Pecher continued. “We run 50-lb. offset, and it’s rare when the press is not running 12,000 sheets an hour. In the past, we were averaging two and a half shifts a day. With the advanced automation of this press, we’re down to two shifts, and I still have capacity.”

The company exec reported that, to date, the company has printed 20 million impressions on the Spica with little downtime.

“Skinner & Kennedy is a third-generation family-owned business that has always been adept at designing new products and investing in technology to keep pace with print production and customer demand,” commented Jacki Hudmon, senior vice-president of sales and marketing for Komori. “We are very pleased to continue our long-term relationship and support of their business with the addition of the Spica.”

About Komori
Tokyo-based Komori Corp., a premier manufacturer of printing presses, provides excellent technology especially suited for today’s highly competitive printing marketplace. Delivering a high level in print quality coupled with impressively fast makeready and open systems architecture, Komori presses help printers achieve the higher productivity and efficiency levels essential for increased margins and business growth. Komori America headquarters are in Rolling Meadows, IL, with sales and service organizations throughout North America.

Source: Komori.