What is it?
It’s a four-colour plus coater B2 press.

Why did you choose this particular machine?
Ryobi and distributor Apex Digital Graphics won our business after careful consideration on our part and a stringent environmental audit. We have to work hard to reduce the impact that the printing process has on the environment but, as a responsible company, we also have to look at all purchases from a commercial position, as cost is important. The Ryobi machine offered considerable overall cost savings against the competitive product, as well as coming through our environmental audit with flying colours. The two factors combined made our purchasing decision relatively easy – although, of course, we also had to consider the fact that this would be our first move away from Heidelberg as a press supplier.

Did you look at any other similar machines?
We started with a list of five potential suppliers. One essential element in the decision process was that the press had to be able to accommodate exactly the same size of plate and image position as our existing Heidelberg CD74-5 plus coater press. This was so that decisions regarding which press a job would finally be produced on could take place at the very last minute. The final two machines were then compared on the basis of environmental factors, in accordance with our ISO 14001 accreditation.

Were the environmental benefits of the Ryobi important?
We’re certainly not tree huggers, however, we do take our environmental responsibilities seriously. We believe we are staying one step ahead of the legislation with regard to the various green issues.

What features do you particularly like?
Ease of use; the way that the press has fitted in with our existing equipment without having to make changes at our front end. The ability to juggle jobs between presses and maximise throughput post plating is a huge benefit, as is the flexibility of the coating unit.

What about the coater?
The Ryobi machine provides a coating unit that can effectively be taken off-line at any time, allowing for pre-makeready while other non-coated work is still being printed. The unit can also be kept running when not actually coating, meaning that there is less press downtime for cleaning the unit.

Is there anything that you dislike?
To date there are no features that we dislike and the machine is meeting all of our requirements.

Is there anything that you wish it had that it doesn't?
There are a couple of extras that in an ideal world we would have taken up, for example chilled and oscillating rollers. However, the machine is coping very well without.

Would you say that it’s saved you time or money?
Yes, definitely. Power consumption on the Ryobi costs £6.69 per hour, running on day rates, whereas on a competing machine it would have been £12.06. There’s a similar differential on night rates – £3.82 versus £6.89. The conclusion drawn in this section of the environmental audit was that considerable cost savings could be made on power consumption and therefore on climate control levy with a favourable reduction in carbon emissions.

Would you say that it offers value for money?
It offers tremendous value for money.

Would you buy another?
The Ryobi press has certainly opened our eyes to future possible investments.

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CONCLUSION
User's Verdict
Ease of use 5/5
Reliability 4/5
Value for money 5/5

Supplier’s response
Apex Digital Graphics sales and marketing director Neil Handforth says: “We have enjoyed a very professional relationship with Blackmore, right the way through the buying and installation process. They required three demonstrations on the machine and were very specific about their requirements. The Ryobi 750, however, was able to tick all the right boxes. We agreed a written schedule regarding the installation of the machine, and the Apex team, in conjunction with the Blackmore production staff, were able to ensure a very efficient installation.”
Price Ryobi 754 plus coater from £500,000
Contact Apex Digital Graphics 01442 235236