MPG collapsed into administration in June, leaving a raft of nearly-new kit up for grabs. The T-Print, which was owned by HSBC, has been sold to Bang Printing of Minnesota. The firm has also bought a new T-Fold signature folder to go with it, giving it a complete T-Press setup.
The King’s Lynn kit will be shipped to the US over Christmas for installation in the New Year.
The deal marks Timsons’ first install in the States for the digital press, which uses Kodak’s high-speed Stream inkjet heads. Bang is an existing user of its litho book printing presses.
“We are looking to break into the American market with the T-Print so this is a significant installation for us,” said technical sales director Jon Walker.
Timsons and Kodak held an open house event for European book printers at Timsons’ Kettering HQ yesterday. Attendees were able to see Kodak’s Prosper 1000 mono inkjet press running in line with the latest-generation of the T-Fold.
The Prosper engine on show was also taken out of MPG, and has since been refurbished. The system will be installed at St Ives Clays in the New Year.
“It can be used for non-stop production, running at 200 metres per minute in any format from A-format pocket books up to A4 schoolbooks and anything inbetween,” said Timsons managing director Jeff Ward.
Also shown running was the Timsons T-Book system that takes a full width web, splits it into ribbons, cuts the ribbons into sheets and into individual books allowing 2pp and 4pp breaks.
Attendee Andy Cork, managing director at Peterborough-based Print On Demand Worldwide, said: “Everyone is looking at the future and what Timsons and Kodak have done putting litho and inkjet into one is where it’s going. The speeds are amazing.”
Erwin Busselot, marketing director for digital printing at Kodak EAMER, said the combination of different Kodak/Timsons kit configurations offered printers flexibility depending on the volume required.
“If they are producing up to 5m books a year they can start with a Prosper 1000 and a T-Fold. Between 5-9m books they get either a second Prosper or a T-Print, and 10m and above they put in a T-Print but can keep the finishing line.
“Printers understandably want to protect their investment and this is a nice growth path,” he added.
A further open house event is planned for January, by which time Timsons will also have installed a new system from Rima at its facility. This uses Rima’s compensating stacker to collect signatures and produce stacks of glued book blocks, with or without compensation.
“This is new and a very interesting application. By putting glue heads on the stacker we can apply a spot of glue onto the shingle in the trim margin. This holds it together until the clamp has it, and then gets trimmed off,” explained Mike Hall, sales director at Rima distributor System UK. “We can make a log full of book blocks. It’s like making a log of cheese sandwiches, but the sandwiches aren’t stuck together!”
