When Lilyfield Printing director Gary Brown spotted the Heidelberg CutStar last April at Ipex in Birmingham, it was love at first sight. Now less than 12 months later, Lilyfield Printing in Sydney is the owner of not only the first Heidelberg 10-colour CutStar perfecting press in Australia, but the first in the Southern Hemisphere.

ìI originally saw it running at Birmingham at Ipex and I was very impressed with the variable cut-off configuration. Basically that means that we can feed the paper by reel and cut it to suit the job as required,î says Brown.

ìThe other thing is that you can run a short grain sheet which runs at a faster rate than a long grain sheet, increasing the machineís productivity also. There are also savings in paper size, instead of using a standard 635x880mm sheet, we can cut it to 620mm, or I can have a sheet size of 880x720mm. It gives us a lot more versatility in the estimating and pricing of the job.î

Brown traded in an older Heidelberg press in making the purchase, and believes the CutStar has enhanced his companyís competitive edge due to its variable cut-off capabilities, as opposed to fixed cut-off with web printing, meaning that paper wastage is reduced considerably.

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