Shown at drupa, the world’s first B3 eight-colour press has been sold to UK company Healeys Printers, which says it has experienced a 30 per cent increase in productivity since the press went in.
Heidelberg dominates the long perfecting market in B1 presses, manufacturing around 80 per cent of all eight, ten and 12 colour machines sold around the world. It is also market leader in B2 long perfectors, and the company clearly wants to replicate this success in the A3 market.
The SM 52-8-P will be the centrepiece of the Heidelberg PacPrint stand, and undoubtedly the most viewed piece of kit at the whole show, as the nation’s small printers are given the opportunity to emulate the success of the big boys in utilising long perfectors, or at least aspire to it.
Philip Dodd, managing director at Healeys,says, “Our turnover has increased, our quality improved and our profitability protected with the investment in single-pass B3 production. As a totally B3 format printer we have to offer customers a range of products, and having a 4/4 option gives us a real competitive edge in short run, fast turnaround high quality work. We are now taking on the B2 players with this press.”
Healey’s Printers employs 40 staff and specializes in A3 format. Over the last seven years, Healeys has gone from a small printshop specialising in forms to a company with annual sales of just under Euro5m (AUD$8m). The SM 52-8-P is one press amongst 22 Speedmaster SM 52 printing units that Healeys Printers uses to produce a wide range of products including high-quality art catalogues for galleries in London and 4/4 jobs such as numerous brochures and local business magazines. The Speedmaster SM 52-8-P saves a second makeready and interim storage for drying and overall ensures faster delivery times.
In its strongest selling months, November and December last year, Healeys increased its sales by 30 per cent with the Speedmaster SM 52-8-P. Run sizes per job range from 100 to 65,000. Dodd is particularly impressed with the stability of the press and the new sheet transfer system that ensures much smoother sheet travel. The press is fitted with the optional Alcolor Vario continuous-film dampening system which has the effect of eliminating any hickeys in the image. The sheet brakes, suction tape and the revolutionary new air panels ensure perfect delivery of double-sided work.
Healey’s has a digital production system, with an automatic Topsetter CTP unit now producing more than 4,000 printing plates a month. Prinect Prepress Interface and the Prinect Axis Control colorimeter provides end-to-end colour consistency which simplifies and speeds up the many job changes.
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