New Press Prints Commercial Jobs During Training

Gateshead (UK) NW Printers has its 18,000 sheets per hour MAN Roland R500 press up and running and already working a double-day shift.

Gateshead (UK) NW Printers has its 18,000 sheets per hour MAN Roland R500 press up and running and already working a double-day shift.

The straight five-colour machine with coater and extended dryer version of the B2-format press is the UK's first R500 but NW Printers managing director John Bamborough said he is quite sure that there will be many more to come.

"We are over the moon with the press.

Because of our current workload, it would be true to say that the press arrived just in time and was installed in only three weeks.

We had to run live jobs during the training sessions though because we are just so busy at the moment," said Bamborough.

The new press runs alongside a two-year old R305 with perfecting - a machine that has already printed more than 20 million sheets for NW Printers.

"Whilst we did look at other manufacturers' machines during our trip earlier this year to Drupa, we don't believe that there is anything to touch the technology in the MAN Roland presses.

Our new machine incorporates the full Colorpilot technology, which ensures consistency of colour throughout the run, as well as the latest PECOM computer control system, which allows us to accurately specify Pantone colours in our CIP3 files.

We have been so impressed with the performance of Colorpilot that we are already looking to see if we can add this capability to our R300 machine.

Not only is it a great time saver, it also means that we have detailed information on the job to present to the customer regarding how the job performed on the press." During the early weeks of running the R500, whilst operators are still adjusting to the new machine, it has already produced a run of over half-a-million said MAN Roland.

"The performance was outstanding on this length of run.

We had the press up to near maximum speed - certainly over 17,000 sheets per hour - on a 240gsm stock and the print quality was absolutely excellent," said Bamborough.

"Quality is key for us - most of our jobs are less than 10,000 copies, so whilst it is nice to have the high speed available for when we are printing longer runs, its not our main reason for investing in this equipment.

One of the things that did particularly attract us to the R500 was its ability to handle stocks right up to 1mm in thickness.

So far we haven't had time to go out and look for this type of work, but we have produced one job on 750 micron board which went through without a problem.

We firmly believe that as a B2-format jobbing printer we have to provide exceptional print quality and a fast and efficient service - a just-in-time print service.

If we can do both of these things, the work will keep coming in.

Certainly in recent months we have been exceptionally busy, to the point where we had to introduce a period of 24-hour production.

With the new machine in, we are now steadying things with both presses running a double-day shift and if work continues to come through the door at current levels I can easily see us increasing our turnover during the coming year by at least 50 per cent," commented Bamborough.

NW Printers is still able to keep a keen eye on environmental issues during busy times.

Both MAN Roland presses are running reduced alcohol levels - currently five per cent - and the company is planning to reduce that further.

Utilising Westland Rollers and Fuji-Hunt - both supplied through MAN Roland - this reduction has been a money saver as well as an environmental issue.

"There certainly has been no loss on quality.

We are keen to keep pace with environmental issues - it is better to be ahead of the game, so that you don't have to make wholesale changes should legislation come into force on such matters," he commented.

Total investment at NW Printers this year has topped the £1 million mark and John Bamborough continued: "We added Agfa computer-to-plate equipment earlier this year.

It has been an essential ingredient in our success during 2004 - we certainly would be struggling to keep pace with the presses demands for plates if we were still producing them manually.

The CTP system has also enables us to make the most of the make-ready savings offered by the MAN Roland machines." The company operates full studio facilities for pre-press job preparation and a fast growing bindery side of the business.

With regard to the purchase of the specialist coating and extended delivery unit on the R500, Bamborough continued: "It means that we can handle the sheets just as soon as they are printed.

With the R305 we went for total flexibility - a five unit press, with double-perfector, giving us the option of using the fifth unit for a sealer or varnish - but the purpose built coater on the R500 really is a significant enhancement.

We have a high level of control with regard to the thickness of the coating that we add to the sheet and the IR dryer and extended delivery means that we can move the job on to the next stage in production immediately." MAN Roland said that the R500 has been designed with high quality commercial and packaging printing in mind.

It has the ability to handle a wide range of substrates, right through to micro-flute board and it is compatibility with UV inks and the possibility to configure the machine with single or double coater.

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