The press, installed last week, can output up to 2,700sph A3 or 5,400sph A4 (simplex) on substrates of up to 360gsm with a reproduction of up to 1,200x4,800dpi using low-temperature/high-gamut toner.
Director Dan Esson said the company decided it wanted to add digital to its arsenal at Ipex 2010 in Birmingham but took some time to settle on the Heidelberg press.
“We went around and looked at them all and weighed up the cost of the printer against the quality it was producing. It was a bit of a no-brainer because of the cost,” he said.
“The HP press is all very nice but it’s a lot of money, Xerox wasn’t up to the quality that we were trying to achieve and neither were a lot of the smaller companies. We don’t want our customers to notice that we are producing some smaller runs on digital.
Esson is impressed with the speed of the Linoprint and its level of automation, with less human supervision needed while running. The ability to print A4 landscape with the unusual 330x700mm format was another convincing factor.
“We do a lot of work for Aviva and HSS doing short-run promotions and a lot for Cambridge University. Some of the invites we do for them are very high spec but very low quantity,” he said.
But he said he was also swayed by Heidelberg’s customer service.
“We’ve bought five or six presses from them and they looked after us. They went out of their way to show us the press before it was released.”
The new digital press will replace the company's four-colour Printmaster PM 52-4 although a five-colour Speedmaster SM 52-5 press is being retained.
“This press will reduce our outwork,” Esson added. “We already attributed 12%-15% of our turnover to digital printing but by June 2016, a year after we have the Linoprint press up and running, that could be as high as 35%-40%.”
The digital press will initially be run on flexible day shifts but could be extended at a plant, which operates daily from 6am to 10pm.
Esson print also bought a new Morgana creaser and folder, bringing the total investment to nearly £100,000.
The Cambridgeshire company employs six people and has a turnover of £800,000. Barry Esson started the business more than 30 years ago with two Heidelberg GTOs and has been a Heidelberg customer since. He now runs the company with son Dan.
