The two Xerox machines, a DocuColor 5000 and an 8002, made way for a Heidelberg Linoprint CP digital press at the company's base at Penrith in the Lake District last week. Today (26 October) is the first day of operation for the new machine.
“Colour calibration and connectivity were key to our decision,” said managing director Andy Jackson, whose company produces everything from business cards to 500,000-run colour leaflet jobs and magazine work.
“The new Heidelberg digital front end was convincing. It means our digital printing will be totally Prinect integrated and will match the litho side.
“Although there is no ISO colour standard for digital, Heidelberg will calibrate the new press to our own in-house standard.
“We believe the colour match will enable customers to switch work between technologies with confidence and with the knowledge that work is produced to give them the optimum value.”
The 6pp A4 and 4pp A4 landscape options would also prove popular formats for clients, reckoned Jackson who paid “a six-figure sum” for the press.
His 50-staff company has a turnover of just over £3m and operates 24 hours a day. The new 110-pages-per-minute digital press will initially only run during the day.
The company also runs two heidelberg Speedmasters – an SM 74 and an XL 75 – and last year upgraded to a Polar 78N to run alongside its remaining Polar 115.
It was an early adopter of Prinect Postpress Manager and Jackson said the new kit purchase was driven by compatibility issues.
“Our front end is Prinect and compatibility was the main issue. But we also wanted a press that could go bigger than SRA3 and run on thicker sheets up to 400gsm.
“And we wanted a print quality so that the average customer would not know the difference between work coming of the Linoprint and a litho machine.”
He added: “The purchase will bring digital and litho together, rather than us having to sell them as separate products: we want to call it simply print to keep it as simple as possible for the customer.”
H&H Reeds Printers is also due to take delivery of a Heidelberg ST 350 stitchliner in January to double format size to A3.
Jackson's business serves councils and local government as well as large and small independent customers. Regional business accounts for 80% of the printer's work.
