Komori Enthrone 29

09 June 2010

Business

With its tagline of 'quality', Komori's entry-level Lithrone model offers jobbing printers fast changeovers with low power consumption, finds Jo Francis

The dictionary defines the verb enthrone thus: ‘Install (a monarch or bishop) on a throne, especially during a ceremony to mark the beginning of their rule.' Such regal connotations are a coincidence in Komori's selection of the Enthrone name, which was chosen to reflect the position of the new press within its product range: sitting between the Spica and Lithrone models, it is an entry-level Lithrone, hence Enthrone. If it also happens to represent the ascension of a new B2 monarch then so much the better from Komori's point of view.

Last month's Ipex exhibition marked the worldwide debut for the press and, as launch pads go, Komori chose the perfect platform in terms of immediately gaining a wealth of valuable feedback from a wide cross-section of printers of various nationalities. "It's very important that we try and evolve our product range to fit in with future demand and requirements, from the point of view of functionality, features and price," explains Komori UK managing director Neil Sutton. "The volume in B2 sits with lifestyle businesses and we want to be in a position to grab it in both emerging and mature markets."

The Enthrone borrows from both its siblings and what's immediately obvious from looking at it is that it has the same style of compact footprint as the Spica - a five-colour Enthrone is just 6.32m long. Like the Spica, it also features an on-press control panel that is integrated at the delivery end and this also contributes to the space-saving design. There are no steps on the operator access side of the press either.

Ideal for busy printers

During its Ipex demonstrations, Komori's ebullient presenter described the development concept of the press as being "quality, quality, quality" and here's where the technology from the Lithrone S series comes into play.

At the feeder end, the sucker box is the same as that used on the faster 16,000 sheets per hour (sph) Lithrone (the Enthrone has a top speed of 13,000sph), as is the suction tape transfer system. Komori is making much of the Enthrone's ability to change stock thicknesses on the fly without the need for fiddly gripper pad adjustments. It showed it switching from 150gsm paper to a 0.53mm board at Ipex because it believes this capability will be of particular appeal to busy printers. The feeder pile height is 800mm.

"The workload of small commercial printers has gone upwards and outwards. Some are almost like the old traditional jobbing printers printing many different types of stock," says European marketing manager Philip Dunn.

Plate loading is quick and straightforward because of the benderless clamp so there is no need for plates to be bent prior to loading. The Enthrone features the same double-sized impression and transfer cylinders as the Lithrone throughout, along with the Komorimatic dampening system that permits "micro-adjustable amounts of solution to be delivered to the plate", as well as allowing alcohol-free
printing if required.

Gap in the market

In fact, the Spica, Enthrone and Lithrone are all made in the same factory in Yamagata where Komori focuses on manufacturing half-size presses and the firm believes it's found a viable gap in the market with the Enthrone's specification. "Since having both the Spica and the Lithrone, we've recognised there's a space in between them and that's why we've brought the Enthrone out. We're absolutely convinced there's a space for it - we haven't just brought it out for the sake of it," states Dunn.

The blanket wash features the same pre-soaked cloth system as its high-end sibling and, while some rivals have queried the cost of the cloths involved, Dunn believes the system is actually more cost-effective when the bigger picture is taken into account. "In the long-run, it is more economical because it's efficient and quick," he argues.

Komori is pitching the Enthrone against some tough competition, including Heidelberg, with its venerable SM 74, KBA's Rapida 75 and Ryobi's 780 range. The Enthrone has a slower running speed than all three of these potential rivals, but Komori obviously expects its fast makeready and job changeover to appeal to the core target market of jobbing printers switching between lots of different jobs in a typical day's work.

The firm cites a typical changeover timescale of under eight minutes, to include blanket wash (which takes just 30 seconds), plate change, paper size pre-set, automatic image data loading and ink profile setting, as well as pre-inking of the first 30 sheets and getting good register and colour adjustment - the Enthrone runs at a speedy 12,000sph during start-up. The changeover time also includes de-inking while printing the final 200 sheets of a run and, of course, there is no time taken for manual adjustment of the gripper pads. In fact, during the Ipex demonstrations, Komori put a stopwatch on its own press and was switching between jobs in just under six-and-a-half minutes.

There's an optional on-board spectrophotometer too, the PDC-SE, or a densitometer version, the PDC-LE. And Komori also highlighted the consistent and smooth sheet alignment at the delivery end, thanks to air control throughout the delivery. The Enthrone's deliver pile height, described as "semi high-pile", is 600mm.

Along with its space-saving design and simple operation, another feature of the press that Komori is keen to emphasise is power consumption - an increasingly important consideration with any press purchase. Fellow Japanese manufacturer Ryobi has made much of this in relation to its own presses over the past year or so and, at Ipex, KBA showed an ‘E' version of its Rapida 75 that it claims uses half the power of competing models - it was shown printing at 16,000sph and pulling 27kW. The Enthrone, meanwhile, requires 24% less power than its Lithrone stablemate and pulls 36.1kW.

The press is currently available in a five-colour configuration, with two- and four-colour variants to follow in due course. A perfecting version is also a possibility if the market demands it. "We have to take manufacturing costs into consideration. If there are too many variables we can't pitch it right," Dunn notes.

While the target market is jobbing printers, Dunn believes the press will also have appeal beyond SMEs among larger printing companies that need a B2 facility too.

So what was the market reaction at Ipex? "The first, and most encouraging feedback at the show was actually from our distributors and subsidiaries," explains Dunn. "That augurs well for the press, because such enthusiasm is the catalyst for active international sales activity on their part."

"Secondly, printers seemed genuinely surprised at its stock range versatility, especially the fact that it switched from thin to thick stock without adjustment and immediately ran the heavier weight at full speed. We did notice how many were closely examining the sheets that we passed out, and how many were taking them away with them," adds Dunn.

"Considering that most who enquired asked seriously about availability, I think we can count it as a highly successful launch," he concludes.

SPECIFICATIONS

Max sheet size 530x750mm

Min sheet size 200x280mm

Number of colours currently five-colour only two- and four-colour models in the pipeline

Min/max substrate thickness 0.04-0.6mm

Max speed 13,000sph

Price circa £425,000

Contact Komori UK 0113 279 9900 www.komori.com

THE ALTERBNATIVES

Heidelberg Speedmaster SM 74

Heidelberg's venerable B2 workhorse has been on the market for 15 years and, with more than 30,000 units installed, can be justifiably deemed an enduring success.

Min/max sheet size 280x210mm/530x740mm

Max speed 15,000sph

Price £425,000 for five-colour with 500mm delivery

Contact Heidelberg UK 020 8490 3500 www.uk.heidelberg.com

KBA Rapida 75

The 75 is now available in two models: the more basic "C" has a top speed of 13,000sph, while the faster and more energy-efficient "E" model can go up to 16,000sph.

Min/max sheet size 330x330mm/530x750mm (standard) or 605x750mm (optional)

Max speed 13,000-16,000sph

Price from £425,000 for a five-colour base model

Contact KBA UK 01923 819922 www.kba-print.de/uk/home.html

Manroland R200

This is a B2 press that also makes much of its compact footprint - a five-colour model is a tad smaller than the Enthrone, at just under 6.3m long.

Min/max sheet size 210x297mm/520x740mm

Max speed 13,000sph

Price five-colour circa £480,000

Contact Manroland GB 020 8648 7090 www.manroland.co.uk

Ryobi 785

Ryobi has expanded its entry-level 780 B2 range with a five-colour version, which was also shown at Ipex.