The machine, which commenced installation at the Southampton-based commercial printer in early July, started printing earlier this week and is expected to be in full production by next week.
Sitting alongside the company’s first LS-829P H-UV, which was installed in 2015, the press has replaced a 10-colour conventional LS-1029P, which has been part-exchanged.
Indigo Press joint managing director Tony Swift, who heads up the business alongside Richard Docherty and John Ellis, said: “The press will increase our capacity, because aside from the fact that it’s H-UV, it’s faster, it’s better and it’s newer.
“We also found when we put in the first H-UV press that there were less and less jobs that we wanted to put on the 10-colour. Everything was going onto the H-UV press because it just did a better job, we didn’t have to worry about drying, jobs can be printed, finished and out in the same day, and the quality is better – particularly on uncoated stocks.
“The two extra units we had on the 10-colour were to varnish anything on silk that we had drying issues with, whereas with the new press that’s no longer needed. We do the occasional five-colour job, but we can just run that straight using five units on the eight-colour.”
With the option to lay down special inks, the LS-829P H-UV is suitable for high added-value printing. Running at up to 15,000sph, the machine can handle a maximum sheet size of 530x750mm while a Full-APC changes the plates quickly and accurately.
“Our partnership with Komori – having now purchased four brand new Komori presses in the last 13 years representing a total investment of around £4m – is very important to us,” said Swift.
“It helps us being able to continue reaching the high mark we set ourselves. We don’t just value the machines, which we strongly feel offer the best quality of any litho press in the market. To us, the relationship we have built up with Komori is vitally important in maintaining these levels.”
Indigo Press has around 45 staff and turns over £4.5m. Offering litho print and in-house finishing services including folding, laminating, cutting and creasing, and spot UV, the business serves clients ranging from independent entrepreneurs to multinationals and trade customers, as well as universities and student unions.
