The five-colour B2 machine, which is due to be installed in October, will be the first press equipped with Komori’s H-UV curing system to be installed in the South West, according to Komori.
Remous, which has 16 staff and a turnover of around £1.4m, produces a variety of commercial print products, including brochures, magazines and books, but it is also seeing increasing demand for short-run packaging jobs, particularly cartons and boxes for product launches and special promotions.
According to Remous director Keith Sparks, the flexibility of the H-UV-equipped press was a key consideration. “We print all sorts of things here. One minute we might be running 150gsm paper; the next, 600micron. Quick changeovers between substrates are essential,” he said.
Remous managing director Alan Bunter visited Komori’s European Graphic Technology Centre in May to examine the H-UV equipped machine and followed that up with a visit to a H-UV user in France before placing the order with Komori.
Bunter said: “We see this latest Komori as a fully-fledged packaging press. It has skeleton cylinders, provides a clean, powder-free finish and dries instantly and with its 200mm plinth, the delivery stack has the capacity for more sheets. Although, on the specialist packaging work, run lengths can be as low as 100, we do handle longer runs and the extra pile height will be useful on heavyweights such as 600gsm carton board.”
The new Komori is the printer’s second S529, having invested in a S529H in 2010. “That first Lithrone made us competitive on short runs and, as the demand for smaller run lengths increased during the recession, you could say that the financial downturn actually worked wonders for short-run printers such as ourselves with highly competitive production facilities,” said Bunter.
According to Komori, the H-UV curing system offers a number of benefits, including: compact design that means it fits inside the press; CO2 emissions are cut to about a quarter of that of conventional UV systems; ducting is not required as H-UV does not discharge any ozone; less heat than conventional UV set-ups.
The H-UV press requires the use of specialist inks that command a price premium. Sparks said: “Ink is a relatively small part of the print process, but you do have to factor that cost in.”
Bunter confirmed the cost of the press was just less than £750,000.
