The Melbourne-based offset and digital house has recently installed a 12-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 75.

The machine’s bells and whistles include Autoplate XL for simultaneous plate change, as well as Heidelberg’s on-press colour management system, Inpress Control.

The installation fits neatly with Heidelberg’s sales pitch that buying a new press is about improving efficiency rather than necessarily increasing capacity: the long perfector replaces two late-model Speedmasters, which had only been installed in 2008.

The investment dates back to Heidelberg’s Ipex Top Technology Tour in 2010.

Bambra managing director John Wanless told ProPrint: “I went on the tour and came back thinking how good it was, but with no intention of changing what we do: I had pretty new presses.

“Three months later, I thought ‘well let’s do the sums’ and it made sense to look at changing [due to] the cost-effective nature of saving on labour and the way the work flows through the place.”

Wanless pointed out that when the company relocated from Bambra St in the suburb of Caulfield to its current home in Port Melbourne, it was operating a much bigger offset fleet.

“We moved here nine years ago with seven offset presses and turnover has stayed constant.”

He added that total volumes have grown: while offset turnover has remained at $10m, the company has expanded its digital offering, based around a pair of HP Indigo presses.

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