After a successful career of over 17 years with a large labels and folding carton organisation, Said Khoury identified an opportunity and purchased the 30-year-old United Printing & Packaging (UPP) business in February 2014.
Within 12 months of buying the business, Khoury’s hard work saw sales double and within five years, the company relocated from Arndell Park to specific premises at Smithfield in Western Sydney.
UPP now focuses on delivering a high level of service to folding carton customers in the pharmaceutical, animal health, cosmetic and FMCG markets.
“There is nothing in the folding carton workflow that we can’t offer in house – from prototyping, CAD cutting, die lines, CTP as well as flatbed die cutters and a multifunctional gluing line for straight line, crash lock and fancy glues,” Khoury said.
After two years of research, Khoury had “very honest and transparent conversations” with former Koenig & Bauer managing director Dave Lewis and service manager Graham Harris who has since been appointed to replace Lewis as MD.
“We left no questions unasked to ensure we got exactly what we wanted,” Khoury said.
“With the coating unit, we wanted the UV gloss to be glossier, the matte to be flatter and spot gloss to be more prominent; and after sending samples to Germany, they came back with specific anilox rollers
that would help us achieve this result.
“While we offer no minimum order quantity, the additional productivity and efficiency from the Rapida 76 and its ability to run at 16000 sheets an hour means we can tap into medium to high volume work where we could not compete previously.
“The technology on the press was important, but we chose Koenig & Bauer because of the service and support we receive from local engineers based here on the ground in Sydney including John Studley from electrical who has been with the business for 16 years and David Spinks from mechanical who has been with the business for seven years.
“We then decided the Koenig & Bauer Rapida 76 was the right press for us as it allows us to deliver folding carton work with precision and consistency which is paramount for our premium and boutique clients.”
“The Rapida 76 offers several additional custom features for our needs including Interdeck UV drying, which can be interchanged on every print unit, as well as two dryers on the delivery. The flexibility
of having every print unit that is Interdeck-ready means we can change our printing configurations depending on the job and the substrate as well as the colour sequence.
“This allows us to print on specialty substrates and achieve complex specifications for our clients with
multiple finishes in the one pass up to 0.8mm thickness.”
Harris said UPP was reassured by having remote support from Germany, unlimited local support as well as continuous software upgrades.
“All of our presses are connected to a 24/7 help line, allowing our customers to connect directly with the service team in Germany in the unlikely event of a breakdown. In 80 per cent of cases, faults can be diagnosed or fixed before a technician is required,” Harris said.
“We have been doing this since 1995, so it is very mature technology. We monitor different alerts and, in some cases, we can contact the customer before they know there is something wrong.”
Preparations for the arrival of the Rapida 76 took place several months before the installation in July this year.
A concrete slab within the premises was prepared with 12 three-metre piers installed as well as 600mm of reinforced steel – meeting the Koenig & Bauer specifications.
“I decided not to make any short cuts,” Khoury said. “While the epoxy was curing on the slab, we installed stainless steel plumbing through the ceiling as well as a six-head cooling unit. We also had pre-formed trenches in the slab for the eight thick cables to power the Interdeck drying between each print unit for both aesthetics and safety.”
Harris said the installation went very smoothly based on the prior preparations that Khoury had made.
“Said chose Koenig & Bauer based on our reputation for service and support. He was perfectly prepared based on our agreed plans and as a result, this was one of the best installations we have ever done –
it’s always a nice and efficient installation process when our customers are organised as Said was, makes the install so much easier,” Harris mentioned.
“We have invested a lot on research and development as well as new design and features on our machines including the new Rapida 76. Koenig & Bauer now manufactures all components including its own UV dryers without having to rely on OEMs or third parties. Keeping electronic components compatible across the entire range of presses from the 76 to the 105/106/145 and 164 size presses reduces the number of spare parts, which also streamlines our service and support.”
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