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News Release from: Komori UK | Subject: 10-colour B1 Lithrone S1040 Perfector
Edited by the Printingtalk Editorial
Team on 12 March 2008
10-Colour Perfector To Help Drive Print
Growth
One of Komori's 10-colour B1 Lithrone S1040 Perfectors is the fourth press in two years from the company to have been bought by Summerhall in Edinburgh (Scotland).
The 10-colour B1 Perfecting LS1040 takes the number of print units at Summerhall up to 28 The business has also invested in digital presses - a six-colour Indigo, an iGen and a Zeikon
This article was originally published on Printingtalk on 18 Mar 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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Summerhall hopes that the latest press, which has just entered production, will continue the company's growth - it turned over GBP6.65m last year, which was an increase of 74 per cent on the previous year.
The company should attain an GBP11 million turnover by end of the current financial year and it forecasts a rise to GBP15 million next year.
Komori said that it is the versatility of its presses that is one of the main reasons that Summerhall has invested more than GBP4 million in presses alone, as well as Komori presses' quick make-readies, automatic plate changing and JDF compliance.
The bulk of Summerhall's print is a mixture of annual reports for the design agency market and financial services, corporate and tourism literature for a significant number of blue chip clients both in Scotland, the UK and Europe.
Managing director and one of Summerhall's founders, George Pryde and finance director and co-founder Garry Ward have also invested in a direct mail arm and bespoke marketing print goes straight through the direct mail department before being distributed to targeted recipients.
The average run length at Summerhall is 5,000 sheets but runs of up to 150,000 are also common.
George Pryde explained: "We aim to bring all processes in-house, so we are able to control the quality of all products from start to finish." He added: "Since we bought the business in 2002 we have completely replaced every press with Komori machines.
We were taken to Japan to visit the manufacturing plant at Tsukuba and it was so impressive seeing the philosophy applied from the ground up that it convinced us to stay a sole Komori house.
We did consider other manufacturers but I believe the training and back up is too good to look anywhere else." And he expanded further on his point: "We have online diagnostics and the presses just don't break down.
We have tried to implement the Japanese philosophy in to our business, by involving staff in all discussions.
The trip to Japan was an inspirational experience and certainly the clincher that convinced us to order the latest LS1040." Pryde pointed out that a number of printing companies failed in Scotland during the last two years, which was due, in part, to their inability to invest.
Therefore, he believes that Summerhall was well positioned to take advantage of those closures by investing in the latest machinery to offer a complete one-stop service to its new customers.
And he added: "When we bought the business, Summerhall had 28 employees.
We've since incorporated staff that had been made redundant from five local organisations.
We now employ 154 people and it's our team's enthusiasm and fresh ideas that are driving the business forward.
The fact that all our staff are behind our cause fully justifies our level of investment and all press operators have been trained by Komori demonstrators.
Even though we are no longer a small company we still operate like a family business." He explained that Summerhall moved in to its current factory in January 2007, where all equipment is JDF-compliant and linked through the company's Tharstern management information system (MIS).
Pryde commented: "We are really making the best of our Komoris.
We send profiles from pre-press through to our three multi-colour presses and have a full scanning and reporting system.
If the colour or quality has changed, the PDCS-I and II colour management systems automatically bring them back in-line.
Like most printers we have been affected by shorter lead times, reduced run lengths and a greater emphasis on different paper stocks, which has has an impact on drying.
We also appreciate that our customers are suffering from the same pressures as their clients are expecting faster turn-arounds at more commercial prices.
To deal with their needs we can now offer much greater capacity and will introduce 24-hour working six days-per-week." Summerhall is a member of the International Printer Network, which is a group of 70 like-minded businesses, including Japanese companies, which meet twice a year and creates opportunities to print and distribute for international organisations.
The company said it is also working towards a totally-environmentally friendly factory and the Komori presses have reduced power consumption through the use of inverter motors to conserve energy.
All Summerhall presses have been set-up to run alcohol free and will use processless plates following testing and the Komorimatic water dampening system is claimed to enable non-alcohol printing and suppresses the release of volatile organic compounds.
KHS is claimed by Komori to cut time and cost and increase print speeds whilst reducing make-ready times, enhancing productivity and lowering the environmental impact of waste.
Summerhall has been awarded ISO 9000 and ISO 12647-2 for colour printing and proofing and hopes to achieve ISO 14001 by the end of June.
Steve Turner, Komori's northern general sales manager, said: "The impressive growth that Summerhall has achieved during the last three years is quite staggering and testament to its drive and commitment, which is evident throughout the company.
This is a very dynamic business. Request a free brochure from Komori UK ...
We believe that our commitment to customer support, combined with the automation, print quality and sheer reliability of the presses has been a major contributory factor in enabling Summerhall to achieve such rapid progress.".
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