So far, this year has been one of transition for UK print, characterised by consolidation and closures. However, over the past eight months, a healthy number of businesses, building on solid foundations, have been able to tap into new revenue streams and improve their fortunes significantly.

One such company is magazine and journal printer Headley Brothers, based in Ashford, Kent, which is celebrating its 120th anniversary this year.

The company, which was established in 1881 by Herbert and Burgess Headley above a grocery store, started out printing paper bags, stationery and circulars. Today, the company offers a wide range of print and media services, all delivered from a single Kent site.

Much of the company’s success can be attributed to its continual investment in new equipment over the years, which comprised one of the first four-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster 102 sheetfed presses with CPC in 1994 and the first Heidelberg Sunday 2000 24-page web press installed six years later in 2000.

More recently, the company has expanded into digital print with a Kodak NexPress SE2500 digital production colour press, but litho has remained the company’s focus with a trio of 10-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster 102 presses now in operation.

One way the company has developed its press offering is with the addition of a Cito RSP inline finishing system to one of its 102 presses. Installed in October 2010, the system perforates, cuts and creases inline and at full production speed, which enables the company to produce work for a wide range of applications.

According to Headley Brothers managing director Roger Pitt, the possibilities for the system’s applications are vast. "From perforations on reply cards, tear-off coupons and vouchers to all types of window-cutting, slots and cut-outs, kiss-cut stickers, pop-out business cards and postcards; the applications are varied and the machine versatile," he says.

Designed to mount onto one of the units of a Heidelberg Speedmaster or similar, the Cito system enables customers to benefit from the higher productivity associated with the ability to perforate, cut and crease inline and at full production speed.

One-pass production
Perforation and scoring, Headley Brothers’ most common use for its machine, is performed mid-line on the fifth unit of the company’s 10-unit Speedmaster. A four-colour job involving perforation or scoring, can therefore be done in one pass; even with an extra working, such as a spot varnish. The system can apply perforations to any stock in the range of 80-350gsm, while scoring is available on any stocks between 100-350gsm.

Perforating, cutting and creasing require a proof from the customer showing exactly where they are to be applied. Using the proof, a Cito grid is mounted with a self-adhesive cutting rule, or male and female metallic strips where scoring is needed. This identifies the exact area on the sheet requiring these finishes.

Grids are constructed entirely offline and once created, can be stored and reused for repeat work.

Once the grid is complete, it is mounted onto a base plate, which has been clamped onto the press’s blanket cylinder. When perforations are required, the cutting rule applies the perforations when the grid comes into contact with the sheet of paper.

Pitt is in no doubt that the Cito has benefited the business, but says the time and money saved is job dependent. "That said, the Cito investment has undoubtedly improved our up-time by enabling us to streamline the die-cutting, creasing and perforating processes," he says, "These can now all be done inline – and sometimes in one pass, depending on the nature of the job. This prevents double-working, meaning optimum speed of turnaround for our customers."

Elsewhere, Headley’s Cito system is used for scoring. In the scoring process, a ridged ‘male’ metallic strip is attached to the grid, while the ‘female’ metallic strip, with a corresponding indentation, is mounted onto the impression cylinder. "Both parts then press together around the paper to generate a perfect crease or score, with none of the unwanted ridges and indentations associated with traditional litho scoring," says Pitt.

According to Headley Brothers, the installation of the inline system all went to plan with follow-up training also up to scratch. Pitt says the company would recommend it to other businesses, identifying printers wanting to offer "innovative and flexible solutions" to improve customers’ products as the key demographic.

While very pleased with the machine, Pitt would like to see the system come supplied with a protective blank grid or jacket, so the base plate could be left on press and kept clean. In response, Cito points out that this is currently available for coating unit RSP Systems.

Pitt says the machine is easy to use but the base plate can be "tricky" to put on, while the layout of grids does take some thought. "However, grid sheets can be stored to cut makeready times on repeat jobs," he adds.

Continual improvement
The Pro iteration of the Cito RSP Inline Finishing system has been on the market since Drupa 2000, but the company says it is continually developing it in relation to customer feedback. The latest addition to the range was the RSP Easy system which was manufactured to include a wider range of press types. Launched at Ipex 2010, Cito says that RSP Easy combines the base blanket printed with the grid to improve the ease of use and reduce downtime even further to provide an even more cost-effective system for jobs such as litho-perforation inline.

On the whole, Headley is happy with the version it has bought. Pitt says: "The RSP Inline System complements and enhances Headley Brothers’ existing services, further boosting the company’s ability to offer a flexible one-stop shop solution, with all print, finishing and fulfilment services performed in-house."

SPECIFICATIONS
Compatibility Heidelberg, Komori, Ryobi, KBA, Manroland and Sakurai presses
Stock range
Perfing: 80-350gsm
Scoring: 100-350gsm
Price
B1: from £1,728
B2: from £1,359
B3: from £1,090
Contact
Cito UK 01773 521852 www.cito.de/en/GB/

COMPANY PROFILE
Established in 1881, £20m-turnover Headley Brothers specialises in the production of magazines and journals in runs of one up to 350,000.

Founded by Herbert and Burgess Headley in a small room above their father’s grocery store in Ashford, Kent, the company started out printing paper bags, billheads and circulars. Today, by comparison, the company offers an extensive range of print and media services, all delivered from a single site.
The company’s equipment includes a trio of 10-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster 102 presses and a Kodak NexPress SE2500 digital production colour press.

Why I bought it...
According to managing director Roger Pitt, the Cito RSP Inline Finishing investment was made "to increase the range of cost-effective, added-value services that we can provide to our customers".

How it has performed...
"For our most common work, perforating and scoring I would recommend it as a very efficient way to do inline," says Pitt.