The Yorkshire-based company is driving itself forward and, unlike many businesses in the print trade, it is forecasting growth: its 2010 turnover was £7.9m and it is forecasting £8.5m in 2011.
As a business, it is very aware of its customers’ demands, and this includes exceptional quality as well as speed of turnaround. In order to respond to this, the business has replaced older machinery with newer technology, and as part of this, in August last year it ordered the UK’s first B2+ Komori Lithrone LSX 529.
Ryedale Group has changed dramatically since it was first established as a local supplier of commercial print in 1954. It has diversified to offer print on plastic, marketing support for SMEs, lenticular print and plastic cards and gift cards. Hortipak, a wholly owned member of Ryedale Group, also offers plant labelling, point-of-sale materials, work wear and corporate print to the UK horticultural industry.
The Komori press was delivered in January 2011 and, so far, has been a resounding success. Group director of operations Steve Buffoni says it is particularly well suited to his core plastic printing business.
The company is well used to Komori presses, having run them for a number of years. That said, following the economic downturn, Ryedale Group opportunistically purchased a used Sakurai, which replaced one of the older Komori presses, and this has helped the business to meet growing demand.
"The new Sakurai gave us many efficiency and capability enhancements, which we soon realised we would struggle to cover with our other machinery, and this led us to explore new presses," he adds.
They didn’t look too far, however, reverting to type with the Komori purchase. The new machine has a slightly bigger sheet size than the company’s existing presses, which include the Sakurai 675 DP+C six-colour, along with a Komori Lithrone 28 press, and two Manroland Favorit presses. However, Buffoni adds that it will still work with the company’s finishing equipment.
"We chose this particular model for the increased speed and improved yield per sheet, which has helped to provide further capacity," he explains.
Cold-cure UV
He says that a particular advantage of the machine is the cold-cure UV, currently unique outside Japan and licensed exclusively to Komori.
"It is of great benefit to us because plastic is an insulator and holds heat when cured using traditional UV processes which can affect sheet size and register," he reveals.
Ryedale Group did look at other similar machines, including a Sakurai six-colour with coater, but it was sold on several of the Komori Lithrone SX29’s applications, particularly its improved automation.
Previously, the company had to control temperature and register with additional processes and, by removing this, it is able to "save considerable cost and energy".
Buffoni adds that the skeleton transfer cylinders are "a great benefit" when printing more rigid plastic substrates, because there is less chance of damaging the print during the printing process.
"This improves potential capabilities in our core business," he adds. "The substrate range and cold-cure UV in particular will allow us to approach new markets."
There is nothing Buffoni dislikes about the machine so far.
"We ordered it to a definitive specification to meet our current requirements, and we will modify it further as required."
In fact, he says the quality is "superb", and that the company’s print quality has never looked better, particularly in terms of colour reproduction and fit.
Ryedale Group’s machine is the only LSX 29 press installed in the UK at the moment, although there are many LS 29 presses in production. Steve Turner, Komori general sales manager (sheetfed), says it stands apart from other machines because it is designed to be ultra productive.
"It is packed with as-standard features such as fully automatic plate mounting and the unique Komori KHS AI pre-inking and de-inking system," he says. These technologies combine to ensure "quick, effortless makeready" and, crucially, reduced substrate waste when setting up.
"The tiny levels of makeready waste lessen the environmental impact of the press as well as reducing operating costs," says Turner. He adds that the ability of the press to achieve low level of set-up waste is a unique selling point. "This is especially beneficial when printing on expensive substrates, such as plastics," he explains.
The Lithrone LSX 29 was first showcased at Drupa 2008, and the press on show was equipped with both the Komori cold foiling system and embossing unit. The 16,000sph LSX 29 is a larger format and faster version of the Komori Lithrone LS 29, launched two years previously, and is a rival machine to Heidelberg’s XL 75 F format. Its launch targeted the high-end applications where the additional sheet size could prove advantageous: the SX 29 boasts a sheet size of 610x750mm, can handle a maximum sheet thickness of 0.8mm and is available for around £1m for a five-colour plus coater with UV drying.
Buffoni says that part of Ryedale Group’s plan to acquire the press was to save costs by taking advantage of the increased speed, the in-line coating features and the associated savings in turnaround and energy benefits using cold-cure UV. The machine was commissioned with standard UV curing, and fine tuning of the cold-cure UV is ongoing, but he says the aim is to use the newer capabilities to generate further profit from existing and new markets.
Printing on plastic
"Printing on to plastic is a challenging process, but our expertise allows us to create niche products and with the new Komori we now have even more creative capabilities."
He adds that the press is particularly good across the full range of plastic substrates, especially thinner sheets which are adversely affected by heat. "We don’t print on to paper, but we are sure it would do a good job," he adds.
While there were "a few blips" getting the UV system to cure on to plastic at the company’s required speeds, he adds that "overall the installation was satisfactory". Pre- and after-sale service was "very good", and Buffoni says the fact that Komori is based only an hour away was helpful. The company has 24-hour cover, which he says is far better than standard service schemes. The business was offered two weeks of training on the machine, and Komori supported the company until it was satisfied.
As a company, Ryedale Group is constantly developing and improving its selling and manufacturing capabilities, and Buffoni adds that purchases of presses such as the Komori Lithrone LSX 529 are "inevitable".
"We always ensure that any purchase will create competitive advantage, strengthen our market position, and contribute to a return on investment during their lifespan," he says.
Would he recommend it to somebody else? "Definitely", he says.
SPECIFICATIONS
Sheet size: 610x750mm
Stock: Max sheet thickness 0.8mm
Max speed: 16,000sph
Price: Five-colour with coater and UV drying: around £1m
Contact: Komori UK 0113 823 9200 sales@komori.co.uk
Ryedale Group was formed in 1954 by George Buffoni as a local supplier of commercial print. It is based in Kirkbymoorside, on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors National Park. Its 2010 turnover was £7.9m, with £8.5m forecast for 2011. Since it was established, it has developed into a plastic specialist, supplier of horticulture labels and plastic cards in the UK. Its specialist areas include horticultural plant labels and point-of-sale, plastic telephone cards, gift cards, general plastic B2 sheetfed and die-cutting. Its customers include Homebase, B&Q, Sainsbury’s, M&S, Morrison’s, The Royal Horticultural Society, and North eastern Tyres & Autocare.
Why I bought it…
Steve Buffoni, group director of operations at Ryedale Group, says that as customer demand for improved quality and speed of turnaround increases, the business replaces existing, older machinery with newer technology. He says that this machine is particularly well suited to the company’s core business, printing plastic, and in particular the ‘cold-cure UV’ feature. "We consider equipment like this to be expensive, but it was competitively priced. We’ve had Komori presses for a number of years which have served us well," he says.
How it has performed...
Buffoni says the quality is superb. "Our print has never looked better, particularly in terms of colour reproduction and fit. Our customers have noticed and commented positively." The press will run at 16,000 sheets per hour, and the company UV cures plastics at 13,000 sheets per hour. "This is considerably faster than our previous and other existing presses," he adds.
