Queensland printer GT Print is upgrading to a new Heidelberg XL75, and shifting to larger premises in Maroochydore to accommodate its growing business.
Craig Mulligan, company director and production manager at GT Print, says the XL will allow GT Print to expand into new markets by running thicker stock for packaging, varnishing in-line and completing five-colour jobs without requiring two passes. He tells Australian Printer, “We are reducing our press time and increasing our efficiency just by adding that extra unit.” The company’s three-year-old four-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster (SM) 74 will make way for the upgrade. Mulligan says, “The SM has done great things for our business, and we are now in a position where we are looking to spec things up a bit. At the time of buying the SM we could only afford the four-colour model. That machine has put us in a much better position business-wise, and there has been a growing need for us to have the five-colour machine with the greater versatility of the XL. It is the top of the range for that size press.” A new site in Kunda Park, Maroochydore, on the Sunshine Coast, will house the company’s operations. Mulligan says, “It is still going to be in the same region, so we’re not moving far. We’ve got bigger floor space and better offices. It’s an empty box at the moment, so we will be able to get the layout right and gain efficiencies through the way jobs will move through the factory. “Over the last few years we’ve been fortunate, given the current market, especially seeing other businesses that have fallen by the wayside, in that we’ve been able to grow with our business model. Not rapidly, just steadily, and we have now got to the position where we have outgrown our premises. With purchasing the new press it made sense to get it in-store into our new premises and have a nice clean exciting start for the new year.” Mulligan adds that Heidelberg have been an excellent support for GT Print, which has been operating for 22 years and now has 14 staff. He says, “It has been good for our business in recent years; we’ve moved a lot of our machinery including our finishing guillotines and folders over to those guys, because of the support. The service and the machinery have always been reliable.” A general commercial print company, GT Print services a broad customer base, including a volume of trade work. Mulligan says, “We have a good mix of clients from various industry sectors and produce work for customers all over Australia. We also help out a few local print shops that don’t have the production capacity that we do.”
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