What does the machine do?
It's our first B2 offset litho printing press. It is capable of printing up to five colours plus coat. It prints to a very high quality, handling everything from fine-line and halftone work, through to high-quality solids. The coater allows us to turn work around extremely quickly.
Why did you choose this particular machine?
We were sending out a lot of colour printing. We put a financial justification together based on the amount of work we could bring back into the Central Print Services department.
Did you look at any other similar machines?
We field-tested other leading manufacturers' products, but in our assessment, the Ryobi offered excellent value for money. Apex told us to just bring a disc along to the showroom to run a test job, showing they had 100% faith in the product.
What features do you particularly like?
The ink volume setting software is a great benefit. It looks at the next job in the print queue as the current job is completing and begins to adjust the ink settings ready for that next piece of print.
Is there anything that you dislike?
Nothing of significance. If we are changing the job queue we can only delete one job at a time, but it's not a critical issue.
How fast is it?
It can print at up to 15,000 sheets per hour (sph), and we have had it up to that speed from time to time. Due to the run lengths that we're producing, it's normally printing at somewhere between 10,000-12,000sph.
How reliable is it?
We had one or two niggles in the early days, but that's no surprise. Our operators have a good rapport with the Apex engineers when they come in for maintenance visits.
What's the quality like?
We have yet to find a job that it can't handle, including printing on vinyl.
How easy is it to use?
Our regular minders have good litho experience, and they have had no trouble at all. We have also brought over minders with just single-colour print experience and they have found it very easy to adapt to the bigger machine.
Has it won you any new work?
There has been a 42% increase in department turnover, which is all new work effectively. One council leaflet we produced, with a 350,000 run in four-colour, would have cost the council in excess of £10,000 to have printed externally. We are winning work on turnaround, as well as being able to offer competitive pricing.
Would you say that it offers value for money?
We purchased the press as a package with a Screen processless CTP system - a ‘one-stop' solution from Apex. It has proven to be excellent value for money.
Were there any difficulties experienced during the installation or after?
The Apex team checked our flooring and we needed to have some work done there in order to support the weight of the press. Because of our location, we had to have the press craned in over a row of trees that sit between us and the road. Everything, however, was handled extremely professionally by Apex.
Under what circumstances would you buy another?
Plans are already in place to move from a single- to a double-day shift, we are also talking with other local councils about the potential of handling some of their work.
Conclusion
User’s verdict
Speed 4/5
Quality 5/5
Reliability 5/5
Value for money 5/5
Supplier’s response Neil Handforth, sales and marketing director at Apex Digital Graphics, says: We were delighted to be offered the opportunity to tender for the press and CTP at Leicestershire County Council. Mike had certainly done his homework and knew exactly what he wanted in terms of quality and productivity, but at Apex we were always confident in the ability of the Ryobi 755 and Screen CTP to more than meet the demands being made. On a technical note, in terms of deleting jobs from the queue: these can be deleted individually at the press, or collectively at the RIP.
Price From £570,000
Contact Apex Digital Graphics 01442 235236 www.apexdigital.co.uk
