Komori Lithrone Part of £1.3m Investment By Ortek

Having experienced first-hand the quality and reliability of its existing Komori presses, West Midlands commercial printer Ortek didn't have to think twice before investing in yet another Komori.

Having experienced first-hand the quality and reliability of its existing Komori presses, West Midlands commercial printer Ortek didn't have to think twice before investing in yet another Komori, this time a Lithrone 528 with coater.

The new five-colour press is part of a ?1.3m investment, which also includes additional pre-press equipment and a move to a new 14,000 square foot factory in Aldridge.

"I researched and considered all makes of sheet-fed press before buying our first Komori machine, however, this time round it wasn't necessary," said managing director Craig Morris.

"Operating flawlessly since it was installed and with roughly 30 million impressions to date, we could not be happier with our L528.

It has been one hundred per cent reliable and in the three years that it has been in operation, not once have we had to call an engineer," he added.

"Komori was extremely helpful when it installed the latest Lithrone, the 528+C at our new factory.

The company carried out the commissioning of the press extremely efficiently and also helped in the moving of the existing L528 to the new premises.

The new L528 with coater now runs alongside our first L528 and replaces a second-hand Komori press, which we had been using for the past couple of years," commented Morris.

The 28-inch Lithrone is extremely efficient, operator friendly and is cost effective on runs ranging from 100 to 200,000.

To handle the increased demand for plates the company has installed a new Dainippon Screen thermal CTP system and has updated its CIP3 facility, allowing greater automation and more control over job profiles.

Ortek handles mostly commercial work, including brochures and short run magazines for its local customers in the West Midlands.

The quick make-readies, of around three minutes, and the fast running speed of the Lithrones enable the company to meet its philosophy of fast turnaround, high quality work.

Craig Morris founded Ortek 14 years ago with a single-colour press, after completing a printing degree at Watford College.

Now with 25 staff and a recent move to a factory over double the size of the previous one, the business has grown significantly.

"The coming year is looking extremely promising and we're looking forward to seeing the extra capacity offered by the new L528," said Morris.

Back to top