Greg Beech, Panther Print owner, says that prior to the installation of the SM52-5-SE, the company was facing the situation familiar to many established printers, how to prevent escalating business overheads reducing profit margins.
“The dilemma for companies at this stage is critical. Do you divest yourself of plant and human assets to remain profitable or do you invest in equipment that will improve your productivity?” says Beech.
“We see a future for ourselves in this market. That is why we took the latter option and upgraded our earlier generation equipment to the SM52-5-SE to really improve our work turnover.”
Beech says that prior to the installation of the SM52-5-SE the company was able to compete on price, but slow run times did not enable them to accommodate today’s deadline demands.
“Previously we were running 5000 passes an hour on our older five colour machine. The SM-52-5-SE has nearly tripled our run speed, enabling us to be much more competitive,” says Beech.
“We can now deliver on clients’ previous requests for larger runs of 80,000 and know that the SM52-5-SE will ensure we meet their deadlines.”
He also praises the automated features of the SM52-5-SE, particularly the auto loading plates and auto wash-ups, which have improved makeready times and contributed to increased production capacity.
“Improving these two elements, production times and run speed, have enabled us to quote on jobs we would not normally win because we would never be able to meet the deadlines,” says Greg.
The company divested itself of two earlier generation presses to purchase the SM52-5-SE, but the remaining two-colour press is still maintaining profitability facilitated by an innovative business solution.
Leasing the press to another printer while retaining it at their premises, Panther Print is able to act as an outsource facility, contributing to reduced costs.
Beech says that all this has resulted in significant financial gains in the short time since the installation in January this year, particularly in relation to payroll.
“Prior to the installation of the SM52-5-SE we had enough work to fill one and half shifts, so our overtime costs were excessive. Now, we are producing more in two shifts and the company’s payroll has dramatically decreased in this respect,” says Beech.
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