The Speedmaster, a B2 five-colour and coater featuring Inpress Control 2, will be installed at the Rotherham, South Yorkshire-based company’s 1,860sqm premises in early March.
The firm has also bought a Polar 78 Pro guillotine, a Stahlfolder Ti 52 buckle machine and Prinect workflow upgrades as part of a £1m total spend.
“We pride ourselves on our speed and efficiency but we were reaching a point where we were having to refuse orders because of capacity or lead times,” said Rosehill operations director Christian Chadwick.
“The decision to purchase the Speedmaster XL 75 was based on the speedy makeready times, automation efficiency in colour and inking and the ability with Prinect workflow to link in to our MIS.”
The company expects to see a 75% reduction in the time taken from order to print once all the software is installed.
The business had reached capacity on its existing Speedmaster 74, which has been running three shifts, six days a week. The new press is expected to double its litho capacity.
“The SM 74 is being taken out once the XL 75 is up and running and this sale has formed the total deposit for the new press,” said Chadwick.
“We had contemplated keeping it as a back-up to the new press but after seeing the demonstration of the XL 75 we knew the SM 74 would hardly ever run so it would be dead money.”
Chadwick said the company expects the XL 75 to have an immediate impact on business because the increased speeds and reduced set-up times and plate changes will make its prices much more competitive.
The company predominantly operated Sakurai machinery up until around eight years ago, when it switched to Heidelberg.
“We have been delighted with Heidelberg’s service and it was an easy decision to go with them again with the latest investment,” said Chadwick.
The new finishing equipment is all additional kit. As well as the Polar 78 Pro and the Stahlfolder Ti52, the firm is also in discussions with Horizon and Duplo for a new saddle stitcher and digital finishing equipment, which would be another £250,000 investment.
“We envisage a large increase in business with the new press and needed to ensure we could still get the work out as efficiently as we do now, and prevent any bottlenecks at the guillotine or in the folding department,” said Chadwick.
The latest round of investment follows the purchase of two Xerox Versant digital presses and a Muller Concepta web-offset press last year.
Rosehill Press, which was established in 1984, has 42 staff and a turnover of around £5m. It offers litho, digital and large-format print as well as a design, print and procurement service.
“We don’t have a typical customer base or market as we pride ourselves on our large range of print services,” said Chadwick.
“Within a typical week we will print anything from 50 business cards for the local plumber, through to eight million A4s for a national blue chip organisation.”
