A leap in sales

  With the new press installed in October, Impressive Printing's annual sales jumped nearly 50% to $750,000, with most of the increase in November and December.

  O'Neil Printing, Phoenix, AZ, recently purchased a new 6-color, 14 x 20" Heidelberg SM52 with perfecting and aqueous coating system to replace an older GTO 52. Like the old GTO, it supplements the company's existing 40" Heidelberg presses, but with new press automation, speed, efficiency and quality.

  "We could not live without it and still be able to deliver a cost-effective product for our customers because not every product fits the 40" format," said Dean Toth, VP production for O'Neil. "We are taking jobs now for the SM 52 that we used to run on our 40-inch. With the speed and ink capabilities of this press, we do not hesitate to do that."

  American Printing Co., Madison, WI, bought a new 28" Mitsubishi Diamond 1000LS press with six printing units and an aqueous tower coater to supplement its existing 8-color 40" press. The Diamond 1000LS replaced two older 251/2" presses-a 5-color MOF and a 6- color MOS-acquired before 1990.

  "We felt it was time to upgrade to newer technology and faster running speeds," says Shawn Welch, VP operations.

  "The Diamond 1000LS press is at least twice as fast as the presses it replaced.

  "The 40" press had been running 24 hours a day, five to six days a week," notes Welch. "We estimate that the Diamond 1000LS will take a third of the pressure off the 40" press and free up time on the press for other projects."

  Shorter runs, faster turns

  For many buyers of four-up and six-up presses, the primary motivation is to deliver the short runs and fast turnarounds their customers require.

  Essence Printing, a commercial shop in South San Francisco, CA, serves real estate, mortgage lending, biotech and retail customers. The company recently installed a Komori 6-color, 20 x 28" Lithrone 28 with coater.

  "Today's print market requires a very narrow window for turnaround," says Terry Crescenti, GM at Essence. "Our customers need to present a high-end image in an extremely competitive, volatile market. The installation of the Komori Lithrone 28 made it possible for us to meet our goal of doing 24 hours of work in 12 hours."

  Pacific Graphics Int'l., City of Industry, CA, recently added a 6-unit Mitsubishi Diamond 1000S 28" press with a coater unit, supplementing two existing MLP 40" presses, including a 6-color 3F-13.

  "One of the main reasons we went with the 28" Mitsubishi press is quick job turnaround," says Bill Wasson, production manager. "Most of our sheetfed work is in the 40" size, and we needed a 28" press that is competitive for shorter runs. The makereadies and running speed on the press are very fast. It's extremely efficient for smaller projects."

  Dana Mueller, owner of Designer Graphics, Tyler, TX, started his business as a screen printer, making political signs for state, local and national clients. He went into commercial offset because many screen customers also needed printed materials.

  Mueller recently installed a 23 x 29" Ryobi 755 press with UV capabilities. In combination with an existing Ryobi DI press, it allows him to easily meet aggressive production needs, quickly shifting from short gang runs to millionimpression projects.

  "The 755 with UV can have the job done before larger competing shops are in register," says Mueller. "We can be at color in 50 sheets, we're in register shortly after the press is up and running, and the job is printed quickly. The color is accurate, the project is dry, and it goes straight to quality-control, then to the cutter, the folder and out the door.

  "I wanted UV because I wanted to be able to turn jobs in a day," he notes.

  For Worzalla, Stevens Point, WI, fast job turnaround is seen as a key to survival. An order for the first 23 x 29" Roland 500 perfector in North America is an essential element in the company's strategy to meet offshore competition in the book printing market.

  The company realized that the only way it could compete with low-priced, but long-leadtime Chinese printers was to give its customers shorter schedules to get their books to market faster.

  The new press will comprise five printing units for 4-over-1 perfecting or straight fivecolor jobs and a UV-capable double-coating unit. When it arrives next month, the Roland 500 will replace two existing 40" 6-color perfectors that have been running book covers and jackets for many years.

  Product versatility is also an important consideration for many companies shopping for new smaller format and six-up presses.

  "I bought the press in 23 x 29" format because I print a lot of postcards and a lot of trifolds, and it gives me the ability to up my production by nearly 30% for very little difference in money," says Mueller of Designer Graphics. "We gang-print a lot of postcards and business cards. Because it's so automatic and everything works so smoothly, I can often compete with a 40" press.

  "As we get more big runs, we have our DI press running postcards while the 755 is running longer runs of larger products such as flyers and brochures," says Mueller. "They complement each other very well."

  At Ben Franklin Press, products printed on smaller-format 14 x 20" equipment include letterheads and business cards run as a convenience for larger customers who do not want to deal with multiple printing suppliers.

  "We run a lot of 500- and 1,000-run flyers and brochures for a university and for sports teams, including promotional ticket offers and even four-color envelopes," says president Ron Clark. "Using the 23 x 29" press, we can also run the flyers more than one-up for longer 2,000 to 3,000 runs."

  Worzalla anticipates the Roland 500 with UV capability also will enable it to save money and time by coating products in-house. "We had been farming out almost half a million dollars of work annually to be UV coated, and adding five or six days to our schedule," says Chuck Nason, president and CEO. The perfector will also print four-color on the top sides of covers and a single color inside.

  "On our typical book jackets and covers, this press will fit virtually anything we have to do whether we are running two-, three- or six-up," says Nason. "Whatever we need, we will be covered."

[时间：2006-04-28  作者：佚名  来源：信息中心]