When Alex Peters Machinery turned up a 2000 Heidelberg SM52-5PH five colour press in Germany, it was exactly what The Printing Express was looking for. It gave a nice symmetry to their pressroom which now consists of a GTO four colour, GTO five colour, Speedmaster four colour and Speedmaster five colour.
The new addition to The Printing Express’ pressroom was installed at the end of July and features an IR dryer, 1+4 perfecting and higher than normal pile delivery. The press, which The Printing Express’ joint managing director Don Croul describes as “up there technically with the best Speedmaster presses anywhere” also has other advanced features like the refrigeration unit from technotrans which keeps the rollers and ink at a constant temperature throughout the day.
Keeping up with the latest technology has been at the heart of what The Printing Express does for most of its 17 year existence. It has always been a “Heidelberg shop”, Croul says, and owns a company next door that produces computer to plate output. Using a Topsetter, which was installed in 1998, the company was one of the first in New Zealand to install CTP.
The SM52 is the latest addition to the company’s impressive array of equipment. Croul says: “We’ve been looking for the perfect mix of presses and now we’ve got it.”
“We let it be known what we were looking for and, over time, Alex Peters Machinery came up with a young machine with low impressions, which was what we wanted,” Croul says. “And at a good price.
“There is a three month guarantee from APM and, when a press comes from Europe, you know that it’s been treated pretty well,” Croul says.
The new addition replaces a 1997 Speedmaster that had been running in The Printing Express pressroom, and which commanded a good trade-in price, Croul says.
APM will also provide training on the press, which will enable operators to discover its intricacies and new features.
Comment below to have your say on this story.
If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.
Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter
