On-demand has been widely tipped as one of print’s potential life jackets in the stormy seas of the current market. While the long-run work of the past, such as 500,000 leaflets for the local pizza chain, has diminished, short-run, ‘get it back to me within the hour’ work, which obviously comes at a premium price, is on the increase – and that’s good news for everyone, right?

Well, sort of. While nobody would complain about winning more business, on-demand work does cause some issues for the production guys because, while it is all very easy for the sales team to promise a job within a certain timeframe, delivering it is less straightforward. 

One man used to dealing with ever-decreasing turnarounds is London-based SMP Group finishing director Rick Bleek. And, in order to make his life easier, he invested in a Redline 2100 flatbed die-cutter from Diecut UK.

SMP, a POS specialist serving a range of retail and blue-chip clients, found it was outsourcing more and more die-cutting work for the likes of Tesco, and while turnover grew from £20m to £26m, outsourcing was becoming problematic.

"As far as a salesman goes, there is always time to take another job," he jokes. "But it’s a problem when you are outsourcing finishing work, you want to have full control."

This is particularly true in the retail sector, where there is such a focus on brand values and where the clients can wield so much pressure on costs and turnarounds.

Outsourcing, therefore, becomes a risk, both in terms of keeping an eye on quality and being able to control production schedules. Firms like SMP now need the flexibility of in-house options and this is where the Redline comes in.

"As soon as the Redline came in, we cut outsourcing levels straight away," reveals Bleek. "Hand-fed die-cutters are okay, but increasingly we are dealing with short-turnaround work. This Redline is semi-automatic, so it enables us to improve our service levels."

The £200,000 machine has a cutting pressure of 450 tonnes and can handle sheet sizes of between 500x600mm and 1,500x 2,120mm. The real key for Bleek, though, is speed. He reveals that SMP’s hand-fed machines can handle around 250-300 sheets per hour (sph) at absolute best. At the moment, the Redline is running at around 550sph. However, once the machine is completely engrained at the factory, Bleek believes that this will increase to more than 1,500sph.

"The speed very much depends on the operator," he says. "Once we get to know the machine a bit better we will definitely be able to have it running a lot faster, it will give us a huge increase in production."

Staffing flexibility
That said, one of the machine’s advantages is its ease of use, which means that there is no need for the company to always have a skilled operator on hand. Bleek explains that this means he can put a less experienced team member on the machine if the work is simple, but switch to a more experienced operator if necessary.

"With minimum training, anyone can run it," he adds. "If it’s a complicated job, we’ll use a skilled operator to set up. We have two or three skilled operators on each shift so we can always troubleshoot."

Installation was a seamless process and training was completed the week after delivery. The firm’s more experienced staff took to the machine quickly and have already trained other employees over the six months since installation.

The Redline purchase was part of an overall upgrade programme the company has been implementing over the past year or two, one that Bleek describes as a "progression" from machine to machine as one investment led to another.

It began with a £750,000 capacity upgrade at the end of 2009, which included the purchase of a HP Scitex 5300 5m-wide UV machine. However, the new press meant SMP had to outsource its mounting and die-cutting, because its existing kit couldn’t handle the sheet size. To rectify this, it installed a Lamina Blackline mounting machine. As a consequence, the die-cutting became the bottleneck.

Which die-cutter to buy was an easy decision: Bleek says he doesn’t consider the Redline to have any serious competitors.

One of the keys to the machine’s abilities is the fact that supplier Diecut UK’s managing director Steve Waterhouse set up his company with the singular desire to improve on the machines on the market. Having worked on the kit himself, he knew what changes needed to be made and with a Korean manufacturer he set about putting these into practice.

According to Waterhouse, improving on the "glitches" was always his intention once he moved on from his previous employer, Crosland. "We took a tried and tested design and fine-tuned it to make a more user friendly, but most importantly handle fast job change overs," he says.

The machine runs much like a sheetfed press in that sheets are fed into the machine at one end, they are stamped and they are collated at the other end. It has a mechanical running speed of 2,600 impressions per hour. Waterhouse believes that the closest competitor achieves 2000iph.

No niggles
Bleek says Waterhouse has achieved his aim of creating a superior machine.

"A lot of the little niggles have been ironed out," says Bleak. "We went to see a smaller version of the machine operating in the UK, took our own stock along and an operator that had worked with a similar machine. We were impressed and our operator said straight away there was no need to look elsewhere."

One of the improvements that Bleek is particularly impressed with is the use of CCTV monitors, which turn the machine into a one-person operation. Any misfeeds or other problems can be spotted by the operator without them having to move.

Bleek explains: "The operator can see any issues within the machine while feeding the paper, which is an advantage. We will often have a second person available anyway; they can look in on a machine and make sure everything is okay inside. But what we want is for the machine to be fully operable by one person."

He adds that, although some presses, particularly in the wide-format arena, do use CCTV cameras to enable a user to monitor progress while feeding, he hasn’t seen it before on a finishing machine.

"Okay, it’s not a 12-colour," he admits, "but it is a fairly big machine, it would definitely cut productivity if the guy had to keep popping around the other side."

As for faults, Bleek struggles to pinpoint any. As for extras on his wishlist, he does have one thing he thinks the machine could help with – if it could somehow turn off his sales guys’ phones at 3pm every day, he might be a happier man.

SPECIFICATIONS
Max sheet size 1,500x2,120mm
Max cutting size 1,480x2,100mm
Sheet thickness 0.5-15mm
Max cutting speed 2,600sph
Features Optional stripping section, grip edge removal, high pile for larger pallet stack, retractable top feeder
Price from £175,000
Contact Diecut UK 0161 955 3665

COMPANY PROFILE
St Michaels Press was formed in 1928 as an outdoor advertising agency. It was one of the foremost experts in the field and introduced large-format four-colour litho printing into the UK. It has undergone a couple of major changes during its 83 years, including an MBO in 1980, but has always prided itself on innovation. In 1993, current managing director Bradley Slade joined the company to head up its newly formed screen printing division, SMP Screen. It became SMP Group in 2005 when its two litho businesses, digital business and screen printing business were merged. Large-format advertising now accounts for only around one-fifth of its business. The remainder of its £28.5m turnover is brought in through point of sale print. It currently employs 155 staff.

Why I bought it...
A need to bring die-cutting in-house in response to ever-decreasing turnaround times.

How it performed...
SMP Group finishing director Rick Bleek has been impressed with the speed and ease of use of the machine and reports no problems. He says it has contributed to providing a "much better" service to clients.