The NewBind Prima is a PUR single-clamp binding machine with a closed and pressurised internal tank. It features manual block loading with semi-automatic pre-setting of the clamp. Spines are milled and micro-notched and then a soft cover is fed, formed and nipped around the block. Bound books can be guillotined after an hour or so, but the full curing time is about 24 hours. This is fine for the books-on-demand market, where same-day despatch is often required although the book will not be opened until 24 hours have passed.

When was it launched and what market is it aimed at?
Prima was launched in March by Encore Machinery, UK distributor for NewBind machines, and having only been on the market for a matter of weeks has not been sold into the UK yet. It is intended for short-run printers, particularly those with digital presses and which, as they would not use it continuously, would not previously have been able to justify buying a PUR binder. Mike Biggs, managing director of Encore Machinery, explains that other sub-£20,000 PUR binders have open tanks, meaning they have to be used fairly constantly as adhesive in the tank absorbs moisture from the air after a few hours and has to be cleaned out if not used.

"The Prima opens up the possibility for more general short-run, quick-turnaround work, such as digital printing," says Biggs. "Photobooks, coated papers, difficult papers - it can do all that. PUR is becoming essential there."

How does it work?
The internal pressurised tank takes 2kg packs of PUR adhesive. Air from a compressor goes through several moisture filters before reaching the tank. A slot nozzle feeds adhesive on to the spine and sides of the block and, when not in use, the adhesive is pumped back into the tank to keep it out of contact with the air.

If the binder is to be left unused, the operator runs a wax stick over the head slot to seal it. At the start of the next shift the head needs a two-minute wipe. Very little other maintenance is needed, according to Biggs. There's an optional cleaning tank for an extra £1,950.

What's its USP?
UK agent Encore Machinery believes the machine is the only closed-tank PUR binder priced below £20,000.

How does it differ from previous versions?
NewBind has been manufacturing single- and four-clamp binders for some years, starting with high-end, high-volume models. It developed and patented an internal closed-tank PUR gluing system, which cut costs compared with rivals' external tanks and feeds, and then entered the low-cost, short-run sector with the Adventure binder for both PUR and hot-melt glues, costing in the "mid-to-high twenty thousands". This was followed last year by the Pioneer, which adds endsheet lifting for use with hard covers, for around £35,000.

The new Prima does without the automatic clamp adjustment and some other features of the pricier Adventure and Pioneer. Biggs says: "Prima does everything you need, but without some of the bells and whistles of the others."

How fast is it?
The rated speed is 200 cycles per hour but hand feeding the Prima will inevitably bring this down. "It's as fast as you can feed it," says Biggs.

What training and support is offered?
The price includes training and a 12-month parts and labour warranty. Encore offers a service contract, including six-monthly maintenance calls.

SPECIFICATIONS
Max binding length 350mm standard, 450mm optional
Max spine thickness 50mm
Max cover size 1,000x455mm
Max cover weights 350gsm
Max speed 200 cycles per hour
Price £19,995
Contact Encore Machinery 01582 562518 www.encore machinery.co.uk

ALTERNATIVES

Morgana DigiBook 150
The Italian-built DigiBook 150 is the entry-level option in Morgana's PUR range. It offers a closed tank and slot head for spine and slide gluing, plus spine milling and notching. Nominal cycle times are lower than the Prima, though this probably doesn't mean much in practice.
Max binding length 320mm
Max spine thickness 50mm
Max speed 150 cycles per hour
Price £23,990
Contact Morgana 01908 608888 www.morgana.co.uk

Watkiss 420PUR
An entry-level PUR configuration with a closed tank. Watkiss says its adhesive recirculating system is unique and minimises the risk of clogging. Book blocks and covers are manually loaded, with automatic clamp adjustment. Notching is standard, but an adjustable-depth milling wheel is an optional extra for another £1,000. A version with suction-fed cover feeder and scoring costs about £35,000.
Max binding length 420mm
Max spine thickness 50mm
Max speed 450 cycles per hour (realistically for about 260 books)
Price From about £25,000
Contact Watkiss 01767 685700 www.watkiss.com

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So, when around nine months ago, Feltham-based Geoff Neal Litho replaced its Resistor N9000 quick-drying, rub-resistant, sheetfed litho ink with the new Quickfast, intended for uncoated and other ‘difficult' papers, it didn't lose any time in checking out the new offering.

Being a well-established and respected player, and winner of the Direct Mail Printer of the Year title at six of the past seven PrintWeek Awards, this former N9000 user's adoption of the ink may well have been a significant factor in encouraging others to follow suit. Established in 1976, Geoff Neal is today an £11m printing company, often blazing a trail on the kit-investment front (in the past four years the firm has invested £5.5m in three new offset presses and new personalisation and finishing equipment), and with its formats, printing "high-end, complicated direct mail and brochures as well as anything out of the ordinary".

Geoff Neal was keen to try out the new ink and take part in early pre-launch trials, to take advantage of the promised benefits of quick drying, durability, high on-press stability and pigment density.

Richard Gill, UK technical manager at Stehlin Hostag, explains that the ink uses a production technology called Inkredible, instead of the now phased-out technology used with the N9000. The result is a high-pigment ink based on vegetable oils, suitable for non-IPA and alcohol-substitute printing with standard plates and blankets, which is Fogra ISO 2846-1 certified for compliance with the ISO 12647-2 standard and available in CMYK only.

In some countries there's the option of a ‘duct fresh' formulation, which stays open longer on the press but takes a bit longer to dry, but this is not an option actively marketed in the UK, reports Gill.

"We decided that, based on UK customer feedback, we wouldn't offer that option here," he says. "It's too similar to another product we have. To achieve the best drying results you have to use non-stay open."
Gill describes the ink's quick-drying and rub-resistant properties thus: "It is for uncoated papers, also matt- and silk-coated papers that can be susceptible to rubbing and marking. There are some other hard-drying inks available, but this reaches its optimum level of rub resistance in a much shorter time. Some printers need this so it can be finished more quickly. Typically this is less than half the time."

Rub-fast characteristics
Geoff Neal production director Ernest Wale reports that the rub-fast nature of the ink certainly impressed him. "Quickfast is a hard-drying-style ink for uncoated materials. We use it a lot for uncoated cartridges and so on, when we want a nice hard finish. It works very well."

"Rougher papers are much more prone to rubbing than smooth surfaces," he adds. "So I often tend to use a hard-drying coating on our Heidelberg XL press as a belt-and-braces operation - if the coating doesn't work, the ink will dry anyway and it works very well that way."

The quick-drying nature of the ink also comes in handy in situations where certain more ‘challenging stocks' need to be overprinted once processed on the firm's XL.

"I tend to use it for stocks that are difficult, such as book covers and particularly on heavy-coverage materials where I want to laser print afterwards," says Wale. "For instance, if I want to laser it and decide to put the hard-drying ink down, I know that if I leave it for 12 to 24 hours it won't come off on the laser."

He reports, however, that whether or not a job can now be finished in half the time of other inks depends on the details of the job in question.

"We would normally leave uncoated print for up to 24 hours to dry before finishing, although we can commence finishing after six to eight hours if we use a water-based coating and Quickfast," he says. "But it really depends on the ink coverage. I wouldn't really be able to say if it is 50% faster because the style of work has an impact on when we can start finishing."

No unwanted ink transfer
That said, Wale can confirm that, in Geoff Neal Litho's experience, the claimed benefits of ‘optimised carbonising characteristics' have held true - meaning long-term rub and set-off resistance where the ink won't transfer to other sheets in a stack or finished book is ensured.

"If carbonising is a long-term marking problem we don't see it, as we don't have the product long enough, but - touch wood - I haven't had any customer come back and say ‘it's rubbing off'," he says.
Due to being used to using Quickfast's predecessor, the N9000 ink, for similar types of job, there were no real issues in adopting the new ink, reports Wale.

"We run low-alcohol here, not alcohol- free. We use the same blankets and we can run it at speed," he says. "We don't have problems with it on plates or on the press. It's been working well and we will continue to use it until such time as we have reason to look elsewhere.

"I haven't looked elsewhere so far because Stehlin Hostag has been a very loyal and complementary supplier," he adds. "They've worked hard with us to ensure we run an efficient unit. I am by nature a loyal individual. I don't change for the sake of it, though if there is a reason I will. Currently there is no reason to change. They're very helpful, friendly individuals who will always help out if you've got a problem. From that point of view I can't recommend them enough."

Wale was also impressed with the way Stehlin Hostag responded to suggestions for tweaking the ink while they were in the early stages of trialling it. "We were very happy with that," he reports. "We trialled it and gave a report, with a few things that we thought it could do better. It came back and has been okay ever since."

The result is that today Geoff Neal uses the Quickfast ink for around 20% of work processed on the two larger Heidelbergs. The company also uses Stehlin Hostag's Impression ink, likewise formulated for rub-resistance but a stay-open type that doesn't emphasise quick drying so much.

"We did try the Heidelberg inks with the XL, but found them wanting and went back to Stehlin Hostag," reports Wale.

Geoff Neal does, however, use Heidelberg's coatings rather that Stehlin's, reporting that "their coatings suit us well." The company also opts to use Heidelberg's own-brand ink on the Anicolor press, which has a keyless ink system that has different requirements.

Nonetheless, Geoff Neal is overall very impressed with Stehlin Hostag and its Quickfast product. Wale concludes: "We don't always have time to wait for ink to dry and we don't want to have the press standing around while it does the drying before a second run.

"The work we produce has to be printed to a high standard," he adds, "which is what Quickfast does."

SPECIFICATIONS
Fast oxidative drying inks in CMYK colours.Formulated for high rub resistance, especially on critical uncoated and matt-coated substrates. Enables fast post-print finishing. Increased resistance to carbonising
Formulation 100% vegetable oil. Pigment intensive
Certifications Fogra ISO 2846-1 certified to enable compliance with ISO 12647-2 colour standard
Suitable for IPA-free printing
Price £16-£25 per set depending on container
Contact Stehlin Hostag UK 0115 986 0477 www.stehlin.co.uk

COMPANY PROFILE
Geoff Neal Litho is an £11m printing company based in Feltham, a few miles from Heathrow Airport. It runs 24 hours a day, with customers including the automotive sector, financial services, the retail markets and fine art. Its main offset presses are all Heidelbergs: a five-colour XL 105, a six-colour Speedmaster CD 102 and a B3 Anicolor. The latest purchase, announced in early April, is a Heidelberg XL 106 six-colour-plus-coater press, which will replace the CD press when it is installed in June.

Why it was bought...
Geoff Neal adopted the Stehlin Hostag Quickfast ink for use on 20% of work on its two larger Heidelbergs when the Stehlin Resistor N9000 ink started to be phased out. Quickfast, the vendor claims, offers quicker drying, and enhanced durability, on-press stability and pigment density.

How it has performed...
Production director Ernest Wale has been very impressed with the ink, reporting: "We don't have problems with it on plates or on the press. It's been working well and we will continue to use it until such time as I have reason to look elsewhere."

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SPECIFICATIONS
Platform SaaS. Can be fully integrated into existing e-procurement/MIS
Reporting Full reporting available from orders/job-tracking and further management information
Template management Either Coreprint Managed or Coreprint Pro, whereby you can control and create your own templates
B2C Coreprint engine can be used to create bespoke B2C W2P system
Included Free digital asset management tool for images
Price Coreprint starts from £750, with a charge of £100-£1,000 for template creation. Coreprint Pro starts from £7,500, with extra software modules costing between £350 and £2,500
Contact Vpress 01242 246970 www.vpress.co.uk

What was slightly unusual about Buckingham's situation was that the keys he'd received were to a Second World War aircraft hangar, and only half of one at that. Just as unusual, the next premises the company moved to had previously been a chicken shed.

Today, however, the company inhabits a purpose-built, 650m2-plus building on the same site at Kingston Bagpuize, Oxfordshire, and has changed its name to Artisan Print Solutions to reflect the addition of wide-format, web-to-print and cross-media services to what started as a traditional litho print house. But its ethos still nicely encapsulates the firm's humble roots, according to managing director Daren Elsley, who joined owner Buckingham at the company in 2009. "We base our business on a friendly, get-the-job-done, hands-on kind of attitude," he says, reporting that this is very popular with the range of charity, education, hotel and other SME customers the firm caters for.

And, unsurprisingly, this approach is something Artisan values highly from its suppliers. It is certainly a quality the team value in the supplier of their Euromedia substrates, Fujifilm. In fact, this was one of the main reasons the firm chose to use these substrates when it first branched into wide-format printing three years ago, with a Roland XC540 printer.

"I was at a show and got talking to Fuji and it's just gone from there really," reports Elsley. "With Fuji, it's a really welcoming experience. If you ever have an issue with how to work with a certain substrate, Nigel Briggs [UK sales and product manager, Fujifilm Graphic Systems] is at the other end of the phone. He really knows what he's talking about."

"We have trialled materials from another large supplier and the materials were good, but it's more about the support to be honest; we just found that we didn't have as good an experience with them," he adds.

Elsley says he could quote many examples where Briggs' in-depth knowledge of which wide-format substrates work best for what applications and with what kit, has been invaluable. He relates an instance when the company needed to produce crease-resistant, flame-retardant flags for a new client and, never having produced this type of product before, needed some advice. "I gave Nigel a ring and he sent over some samples of Dreamtex FR. The customer liked it and it worked well on the machine," says Elsley. "We've been offering wide-format for three years now, but there's a learning curve and you really need the support of your suppliers to offer a professional finish."

Another example of Fuji being very willing to lend support, was where Artisan was having problems with pop-up banners. "One of the things we were getting on our printer was bit of stretch, only by a mil or so and with most pop-ups you maybe wouldn't notice it. But on a pop-up with very busy graphics and split over a couple of panels, you'd get some fit issues where you could see the graphics didn't match up," says Elsley. "Nigel told us that this was because we were using a PVC product, which will stretch where there's a heated element, and that we really needed to switch to a polyester product."

Impressive quality

This, along with all other issues Fuji has lent support on, was not a matter of anything being at fault with the Euromedia substrates, adds Elsley. In fact, he says, he can't think of an instance where Artisan has encountered an issue where the actual quality of the substrate - rather than the way it was being used or its suitability for a certain job - was at fault. "In all honesty we haven't had any problems," he says.

In fact, the quality of the substrates has really impressed Artisan, and, along with the helpful support given by Fuji, this has been a key reason for sticking with the brand. "Because we're getting a quality product, we don't have to reprint, we're not having problems with the finishing," reports Elsley. "It has allowed us to be more efficient and customers are happy with the product - that's obviously what you're aiming for."

So impressed has it been with the quality of each substrate, Artisan is using more and more of the Euromedia materials on a regular basis. The company now regularly uses Satin Photo paper, RollUp Film Premium, Pop Up Film Premium, Project Banner White banner material and, as of pretty recently, 2D Smart-Apply Vinyl, for the range of posters, roller banners, pop-ups, mount graphics, flags, and vehicle wraps it now offers. And the printer has plans to switch supply of laminates to Euromedia soon too.

There is, however, one product the company feels is missing from the range: "It would be nice if they offered coloured vinyl as we are starting to use that for decals," says Elsley.

He qualifies that by saying that, tempting as it might be to get all wide-format substrates from one trusted source, businesses ought to keep their options open. "It's not always a good idea to get all your supplies from one company," he says. "If you do, you can sometimes get a better price, but if there's a problem with the delivery, for some reason, then it can backfire. It's a balance."

Premium price

And Elsley does concede that Euromedia products are "not the cheapest" on the market, and that, while most customers are willing to pay a slight premium for good quality, the company needs to be able to cater for slimmer budgets as well.

"We do have to remember what we're up against - when you look on the web, people are doing roller banners at ridiculous prices and it's because they're probably printing on low-quality materials," he says. "Some customers just treat it as a commodity so we try and offer a full spectrum if we can. If a customer just wants a cheap product tomorrow that's going to be chucked in the bin after one day's use, we need to be able to offer them that, using a cheaper substrate. But if a customer is really focused on the integrity of their branding and colour, then we can offer them the higher-end stuff."

And apparently most customers are more than happy to pay slightly more for high-quality products. "The products are still competitively priced and they pay dividends in the quality we can produce," reports Elsley. So with this in mind, he would certainly recommend other printers use this product, particularly as, offering materials to work with water-based, solvent and UV printers, the range has something to "suit any wide-format printer".

Certainly the range will feature more and more heavily in Artisan's operations, reflecting, reports Elsley, the company's shift away from conventional litho work to focus more on growth areas, such as wide-format digital.

One thing that will remain the same as Artisan's business model continues to evolve, however, is the kind of focus on being approachable and down to earth that can perhaps only grow out of once being based in a chicken shed. And Artisan is confident Euromedia suppliers Fujifilm will continue to reciprocate this friendly, down-to-earth ethos too.

SPECIFICATIONS

Satin Photo paper
Price £1.58/m2

RollUp Film Premium
Price £7.40/m2

Pop Film Premium
Price £9.50/m2

Project Banner White
Price £ 1.45/m2

2D Smart Apply Vinyl
Price £ 4.07/m2

Dreamtex
Price £ 7.88/m2

Contact
Fujifilm 01234 245245 www.euromedia.eu.com

Company profile

Artisan Print Solutions was a very different company when it started life 18 years ago. For one, it was called Artisan Litho. But, more noticeably, it was based in an old aircraft hangar. The business then moved into a converted chicken shed and then a purpose-built 650m2-plus premises to become the £1m-turnover, 12-strong company it is today. Artisan has also now branched out into wide-format, web-to-print and cross-media, serving a range of SMEs, charities, schools and colleges.

Why it uses these products...

The company started working with Euromedia substrates three years ago when it started branched into wide-format printing with a Roland XC540. Artisan was attracted to the range not only because the firm felt its quality to be superior to other manufacturers' products, but also because it was impressed by Fujifilm's helpful, hands-on approach.

How they have performed...

Managing director Daren Elsley has been very impressed with the range. "Because we're getting a quality product we don't have to reprint, we're not having problems with the finishing," he says. "It's allowed us to be more efficient and customers are happy with the product - that's obviously what you're aiming for."

The Xerox Color J75 and C75 combine duplex printing, copying and scanning and are capable of printing and copying at 2,400dpi on a range of coated and uncoated stocks from 64-300gsm at speeds of up to 75 pages per minute (ppm). Both devices are laser printers, utilising Xerox EA Dry Ink. They were officially launched in March 2013.

Who are they aimed at?
Ian Mitchell, high-volume product manager, Xerox UK, says that the presses are aimed roughly at the same markets: the C75 is aimed at in-plants, design agencies and existing or emerging digital print businesses; the J75, meanwhile, is aimed at similar markets but also commercial print shops and printers producing high-volume, high-value applications.

How do these products differ from previous models?
Mitchell is keen to counter criticism that these two presses are in fact very similar to the manufacturer's C700/C7002 models and stresses that these new products are significant improvements on those models.

"Xerox has improved on the hugely successful 700i and 770 platforms, introducing a number of new technologies to complement the existing rich set of features," he explains. "The new features are all designed to make the machines as productive and reliable as possible, as well as making colour management and profiling simple and effective."

He explains that along with the J75 now being able to run all stocks at rated speeds and providing "industry-leading colour management via the Xerox Automated Colour Quality Suite", there is also the new Simple Image Quality Adjustment (SIQA).

"SIQA is software that enables the operator to automatically adjust front to back registration and the uniformity of colour density across the page, by printing sheets and scanning them back using the integrated scanner. SIQA then makes the necessary adjustments to ensure your print is optimised," he reveals. "Previously, and on some competitor equipment, this would mean a lengthy delay and in some cases would require a site visit from an engineer."

What are the products' USPs?
Mitchell says that the above new features are, in Xerox's view, unique to the marketplace.

What is the speed and quality of the machines?
"The machines have increased in speed to 75ppm from the previous 71ppm. The C75 is positioned at the higher end of our Office Range, while the J75 is an entry-level unit in our Production Range," says Mitchell.

As mentioned earlier, both printers are capable of printing and copying at 2,400dpi on a range of coated and uncoated stocks from 64-300gsm at speeds of up to 75ppm. However, while the production-level J75 can handle all paper stocks at its top-rated speed, output on the C75 drops from 75ppm for uncoated stocks to 51ppm for coated.

How easy is it to use?
"They have a very straightforward progressive operator screen and all jam areas are clearly indicated by colour," states Mitchell. He adds that both presses are available with Xerox FreeFlow or EFI Fiery EX print server.

What support is on offer?
As with all Xerox products, a full and extensive on-site training programme is available to new users. The devices are backed by the Xerox Customer Service Support Operation.

How much do they cost?
The presses will cost £30,000-£60,000 depending on configuration.

SPECIFICATIONS

Max speed 75 A4 ppm
Max resolution 2,400dpi
Max sheet size 320x450mm
Max stock weight 300gsm
Average monthly page volumes 20,000-75,000
Price £30,000-£60,000 depending on configuration
Contact Xerox 0870 873 4519 / www.xerox.com

ALTERNATIVES

Ricoh Pro C751
There's not much in it in terms of speed, but this machine boasts a higher resolution.
Max speed 75 A4 ppm
Max resolution 4,800dpi
Max sheet size 330.2x487.7mm
Max stock weight 300gsm
Price £40,000-£60,000 depending on configuration
Contact Ricoh 0800 904090 / www.ricoh.co.uk

Heidelberg Linoprint C751
As an OEM version of the Ricoh, the Linoprint's resolution is also higher than the Xerox and its top speed is identical.
Max speed 75 A4 ppm
Max resolution 4,800dpi
Max sheet size 330x487.7mm (330x630mm with bypass unit for banner printing)
Max stock weight 300gsm (some 350gsm stocks also supported)
Price £48,000-£85,000 depending on configuration
Contact Heidelberg 0844 892 2010 / www.uk.heidelberg.com

Canon imageRunner Advance C9280 Pro/C9070 Pro
A slightly slower top speed but that is reflected in the slightly lower price.
Max speed 70 A4 ppm
Max resolution 1,200dpi
Max sheet size 330.2x487.7mm
Max stock weight 300gsm
Price 9280: from £45,930 / 9070: from £59,050
Contact Canon 01737 220000 / www.canon.co.uk

Konica Minolta Bizhub C7000
The same copy, scan and print applications as on the Xerox, but with a slightly lower top speed and resolution.
Max speed 71 A4 ppm
Max resolution 1,200dpi
Max sheet size 330x487mm
Max stock weight 300gsm
Price £55,000-£80,000 depending on configuration
Contact Konica Minolta 0800 83 38 64 / www.konicaminolta.co.uk

"I was impressed with the Xerox Color J75 at first site. It offers many high-end press features in a smaller footprint with very impressive print quality"

Carsten Gaarde Printshop manager, Jyske Bank

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Switching from bombs to brochures is perhaps not the most obvious move for a company to make, in terms of the kinds of products it handles, but this is exactly the trade-in made by brothers George and Lesley Sleight in the 1950s. They decided to pack in the haulage business they'd been running successfully during the war - transporting munitions and bomb-making components, among other things, up and down the country - to take on a family print business in Hull.

Other options

While impressed with the Ryobi technology, Sleight doesn't feel that his machine is necessarily unrivalled by similar kit from other manufacturers. "I don't think there's demonstrably that much difference between the manufacturers, I really don't," he says, adding that the company also looked at machines from Sakurai and Komori when shopping for the new press. "I hear people say that one press is just so much better than another, but I don't believe that - we've had Heidelbergs, Komoris and Rolands and in terms of print quality, there's really not a lot in it."

This conviction is borne out by the fact that the press has proved very reliable ever since. "The machine hasn't really stopped turning, we haven't had much downtime at all," says Sleight.

With the ability to process more four-colour work and turnaround times slashed, Sleight is, then, one very happy customer. Faster turnarounds have also allowed the company to offer more competitive prices, something Sleight feels is ever-more important in today's tough trading conditions.

"Colour has to be competitive and affordable," he says. "It's allowing us to keep up with and ahead of the times. In this sort of environment, companies that aren't investing in the latest equipment, as we're doing, are going to find themselves slipping quite far behind in the long term."

"This is a great press for printers looking to take one or two steps up the ladder and move into serious colour work," adds Sleight of the justification for investing in this particular piece of kit to keep up with the crowd.

Sleight does concede though that ensuring Pilling Printers remains at the cutting edge of technology will soon involve embracing digital. "Digital is possibly the next stage that might start to play an increasing role for us and possibly supersede certain areas where we print litho," he says.

For now though, Sleight is confident that the Ryobi is speedy enough on long and mid-length runs to keep lucrative work coming through Pilling Printers' doors. Investing in the very latest, quickest technology will always be the company's first rule of thumb, says the director, in ensuring this continues to be the case.

So while the company may not deal in delivering bombs and munitions around the country anymore, it is, in the face of still-tough economic times, still putting up a good fight.

SPECIFICATIONS

Number of units 2, 4, 5

Max sheet size 520x375mm

Min sheet size 100x105mm

Max printing area 505x350mm

Max printing speed 11,000sph

Plate size 510x400mm

Feeding system Rotary stream feeder

Feeder pile capacity 600mm

Delivery pile capacity 400mm

Power consumption 13.5kW

Footprint 4.1x2m

Price £260,000

Contact Apex Digital Graphics, 01442 235236?www.apexdigital.co.uk

Pilling Printers was born out of a haulage company operating before and during the Second World War. Brothers George and Lesley Sleight decided they'd had enough of this particular sector when it was nationalised in the 1950s, and teamed up with elder brother Raymond to buy Hull printer H Pilling and Co. The firm is today called Pilling Printers and is run by George's grandsons: director Chris Sleight and his brother David, who is production manager. With its range of stationery, POS and commercial print products, the business services a whole range of public and private sectors, from pet food retailers to the NHS.

Why it was bought...

The firm decided to replace a two-colour Heidelberg GTO with a Ryobi 524GE B3 four-colour press in response to increased demand for colour work. The Ryobi was brought in, then, to complement the firm's existing kit: another Ryobi, a Heidelberg four-colour GTO, a B2 Komori and single-colour GTO.

How it was performed...

The 524GE did experience a few teething problems just after install, but Sleight puts this down to the fact that vibrations from significant demolition work next door were occurring at the time. Praising supplier Apex Digital Graphics' support with these issues, Sleight reports that the machine has been reliable ever since. "The three things that have most impressed us have been the print quality, speed of make-ready and the press running speed- it runs consistently well at high speed," he summarises.

In fact, Mastercolour also still processes much the same sort of work it did back in the days when leg warmers and coq au vin were still the height of sophistication. "We still do the same kind of work now as we were doing then," reports managing director Philip Exall. "We do a lot of work for insurance companies, building societies and banks, a lot of corporate literature, and work for the retail and charity sector. That's their brochures, leaflets, posters, all that sort of thing."

Of course Mastercolour, now a £6.4m company, couldn't have survived and prospered as well as it has without also moving with the times. The KBA line-up, now joined by a whole plethora of other pre- and post-press kit, such as a Horizon VAC-60Ha collator and a Vacumatic Viscount counting machine purchased last year, looks rather different to how it did back in 1982. Starting with two four-colour B2 KBA SROs, the company has gradually upgraded its presses and today boasts one six-colour Rapida 74, one six-colour Rapida 74 perfector, a five-colour Rapida 105 coater and, the jewel in the crown, a six-colour Rapida 75 installed last July.

Client pressure

The reasons for bringing in this latest model were simple. At the time, the company had two five-colour Rapida 72s that had provided faithful service for 14 years, but were starting to slow down and become more temperamental.

"We've got clients who are demanding things in two or three days when it used to be five or six, and to be honest it was becoming a struggle," explains Exall. "The 72s were taking 40-odd minutes to make-ready on a colour sheet and were unable to run quickly enough. There was increased overtime and weekend working. On occasions, we had to literally beg people to work overnight."

It was time, then, for another upgrade. Though self-confessed KBA nuts, the Mastercolour team do apparently occasionally consider other manufacturers. But KBA apparently offered such a good deal on the purchase of the two aging 72s and the sale of the 75, that Exall didn't feel the need to look elsewhere.

"When we've looked at replacing presses in the past, we have looked at other machines, but always end up buying a KBA," reports Exall. "I'm sure Heidelbergs are very good machines, but we've just got such a good relationship with KBA."

Keeping Mastercolour a KBA-only house also makes maintenance and operation easier, adds Exall. "If one guy's off, another can move on to that machine," he says. "The nuts and bolts of these presses are very similar so it doesn't take that long for our guys to train and work on the new machines."

Another KBA it was then. Mastercolour's fourteenth, in fact. So has the manufacturer once again lived up to Exall's expectations? In a word, yes. But Exall inevitably has more than one word of praise for the company and its products.

"Now we're able to makeready on the new machine for some jobs in less than five minutes, so you can imagine the difference there," he says. "The quick makereadies and faster running speed have more than made up for the fact that we replaced two machines with one. We're actually running the 75 for 24 hours a day along with our B1 presses, and we're getting more out of 24 hours than we were getting out of 38 hours previously."

This boost in productivity has enabled the company to take on new business, and to be generally more confident in agreeing to very tight turnarounds.

"The machine's not allowing us to actually offer any tighter turnarounds -we've always been able to offer those because we had five presses and so could be pretty flexible - but it's helping us to achieve those turnarounds," says Exall.

"We are continually being asked for last-minute jobs," he continues. "We do some work for a bank where we get the artwork for 250,000 leaflets on Wednesday and are told this work needs to be in branches by Friday morning, and we have to produce, trim, fold and deliver them to the distribution network in 36 hours. It's enabled us to do that without any fear whatsoever, whereas previously we were terrified, because with bank rate changes, these things can't be late; it's legislation, so if they miss the bank networks, then we've had it."

The new KBA has helped Exall achieve peace of mind on the environmental front as well. The Rapida 75 features environmentally friendly washing systems for its rollers, blankets and impression cylinders and an Ergotronic control console, which enables users to preset ink metering for specific jobs. The inbuilt Techkon Spectrodrive colour measurement scanner also uses 50% less energy than comparable presses, says KBA.

Greener performance

Exall adds that the quick makeready time of the press also has the added bonus of reducing the firm's environmental footprint.

"We were making ready on 300 sheets of four-colour section previously, and now we're looking at fewer than 100," he reports.

He continues that, not only do the Rapida 75's environmental credentials help the company achieve its targets as one of only a few UK printers with an EMAS environmental certification, but that these are also improving Mastercolour's bottom line. "We're looking forward to comparing last year's energy against this year's," he says. "We'll probably save in the region of £8,000 or £9,000 on energy use. With the alcohol and water reduction factored in, you're probably looking at savings of £15,000 to £20,000."

The training and service support lent by KBA has also been characteristically strong, reports Exall. "Though the machine's been running really well, there were a few teething problems," he says. "There was a problem with the grippers, a very minor thing where the machine just needed to settle down a bit. It wasn't picking up the sheets properly. But the service with that was excellent. We had the problem at 9pm and, because we have remote service support, by 8am the next day the KBA engineer was here sorting it out."

Exall does though have just one minor gripe with his new machine. Due to this model's compact size, the ink storage ducts are a little smaller than he would like. "That means when we have a very long run we're up there all the time putting the ink in," he says. "That's not too much of a problem. We haven't thought about an ink pumping system yet, but we might in time. At the moment we're coping okay though."

"The Rapida 75 and 76 do have slightly smaller ink fountains compared with the 74, but the issue of size of ink ducts on longer runs tends to be addressed with automatic ink pumping systems which are widely available," confirms KBA UK technical support manager Craig Bretherton.

Cost savings

And Exall is nonetheless justifiably very pleased with his purchase. The new press hasn't necessarily boosted the company's turnover as such, but has rather helped insulate Mastercolour from falling print prices. With the bottom line boosted by the cost savings made on energy and consumables, the press, says Exall, puts Mastercolour in a very comfortable place going forwards.

With the printer soon to host an open day for other prospective KBA customers, it looks very much, then, like the long-established Mastercolour-KBA relationship will blossom well into the future. While the pressroom technology and haircuts may well go through many iterations over the coming decades, it seems the KBA badge, for Mastercolour, is here to stay.

SPECIFICATIONS

Max sheet size 530x750mm (standard), 605x750mm (optional)

Min sheet size 330x330mm

Number of colours two to eight, plus coating unit

Substrate weight range 0.04-0.6mm (standard), 0.04-0.8mm (optional)

Mastercolour was established in 1982 and is still processing much the same sorts of commercial work - brochures, leaflets, posters and flyers for customers in the banking, publishing, retail and charity sectors - today as it did then. Although the kit line-up has evolved as the company has grown, the company has stayed a very loyal KBA house throughout its 30-year existence. This 60-staff, £6.4m-turnover company's plant list today includes four KBA machines, Screen platesetters, Wohlenberg guillotines, a Heidelberg Cylinder creaser, cutter and perforator, and a Heidelberg Prosetter 562 saddle stitcher.

Why it was bought...

The latest addition to the KBA line-up, a B2 six-colour Rapida 75 press, replaced two 14-year-old, five-colour Rapida 72s. The idea was to bring in a machine with print and makeready speeds that would not only match the output of its two predecessors, but outstrip it.

How it has performed...

Managing director Philip Exall reports that the machine has delivered just the boost to production the firm anticipated it would. Its reliability has also made the company feel more secure in offering quick turnarounds. "The machine's been running really well, it's been performing just as we wanted it to," he says. "We're very, very pleased with the machine, and very, very pleased with KBA.

You may be wondering how someone can unexpectedly come to own a very expensive press; well, TG Print secured the machine - along with an operator who had already been working on Indigos for 10 years - through the acquisition of a company that had gone into administration and owed TG Print money.

Duhig admits that TG Print had not been considering digital at the time, but is very grateful to have been pushed in this direction. "Up to that point, we'd been shying away from digital, and all of a sudden we could do it because we had a really good machine," he says. "And we found our customer base linked quite nicely with it."

While being in the right place at the right time certainly heralded the start of a successful digital operation for TG, it was careful analysis of the market and a shrewd investment strategy that have ensured this offering has prospered.

TG Print, in fact, started life 20 years ago as a repro house, but expanded into a commercial print operation as the traditional repro work diminished, adding a line-up of Heidelberg presses. And once the new Indigo was bedded in, it decided to fully embrace digital, acquiring a Xerox 1000, a Zünd digital cutting table and a laminator.

The latest addition to this digital line-up has been an MGI Meteor DP8700 XL, installed December 2011 to support the Xerox, in the event of the firm's aging Indigo 3050 "beginning to creak".

Love at first sight
It was apparently a case of love at first sight when Duhig first clapped eyes on the Meteor at Ipex. "I just looked at it and thought that it was a great machine," he reports. "The fact that it did large-format, which means it can do the big six- or eight-page A4 jobs, and the fact it does envelopes and plastics, is just very impressive."

Expanding the range of short-run products was the main reason for investing in the new press. Adding digital technology complemented TG Print's client base nicely, back when it first branched into this in 2008, because much of the firm's business was trade work from other printers outsourcing short-run jobs. But three years down the line, Duhig found he needed to bring something new to the table.

"The trade work was starting to dry up as other printers were getting their own little digital presses and didn't need us anymore," reports Duhig. "But now we're back with their six-page A4s, their roll folds, their belly wraps - so it's generating a nice amount of trade work. Because everybody's running SRA3 these days, everyone's charging the same price. But because there are so few Meteors around, you can virtually name your price."

No click charge
Duhig was also very attracted to the fact that the MGI Meteor, unlike most other digital machines, isn't paid for on a click-charge basis.

"You buy the consumables and there's a recommendation that you replace certain consumables once you have printed a certain number of sheets, and the toner just runs out when it runs out," reports Duhig. "So you can run on a bit longer if your work hasn't got quite so much coverage on it. It gives you much more flexibility."

"A click charge can also preclude you from running envelopes because they're so much smaller and use so little ink," he adds.

It was these factors that persuaded TG Print to opt for the Meteor in favour of the other digital machine it was considering, a Xerox iGen.

"You can't do envelopes on a Xerox, because, at four or five pence per click, once you go over a couple of hundred units, you're not viable price-wise anymore," says Duhig. "Also, plastic films that might cause a problem for a Xerox or Indigo - the MGI just runs them."

Duhig does concede, however, that, depending on what's wanted from a digital machine, the Xerox might suit some companies better. "Any Xerox machine is a good shout," he says, "for those wanting more of a photocopier-type set-up."

The MGI machine, meanwhile, is more flexible, as Duhig explains: "The reason the Meteor can process envelopes and plastics, is because it's a kind of hybrid machine. It has some of the technology you'd expect from the photocopying boxes, but also incorporates some Indigo-type technology, where you've got charged ions going onto a blanket and then dropping onto the sheet when you discharge the electrics."

"But that does mean the operator needs to be on the ball," he warns. "You can't just stick it in a corner and abuse it, you need to be a little bit gentle with it like you would with a conventional press. We do the same kind of maintenance on it as we would on our Heidelbergs, otherwise it would soon stop producing jobs at the quality we want."

That said, the Meteor has performed very well for the company, reports Duhig, with only a few service issues at the start of its life, which Duhig puts down to his original operator not being as conscientious as he'd have liked.

In terms of the service support offered, there are both pluses and minuses to MGI being a relatively small manufacturer, he says. "Because there are only a few MGI machines installed in the country, to start with MGI were also finding their feet a bit," he says. "There were some teething problems in terms of them deciding who was going to respond to what."

David Evans, managing director at MGI Technology, concurs. "TG Print were one of the first companies to install a Meteor DP8700 XL and we have been very fortunate that they have been a true partner in working with us on our service delivery model and infrastructure," he says. "We have deliberately made sure that we have not pushed ahead on sales before we have built up our own experience and ability to support anything we put in to the market. We have established a core team of engineers and consultants based in the UK, supported by our colleagues in France."

Quick learners
The company has indeed been a quick learner and eager to please, qualifies Duhig. And the beauty of MGI being relatively small is that the team can make up for lack of experience with flexibility and a close working relationship with clients. "The infrastructure of the company is on the money now," says Duhig. "They're very receptive to batting ideas around with us- for example we've suggested that a few more preventative maintenance visits would help us."

MGI was also very helpful when it came to training. "Initially, we had one operator given three days' training at MGI's UK base in Hemel Hempstead," says Duhig. "But when we said we needed to train someone else, MGI gave us another three days of training for free."

In analysing the success of any installation, the key metric for TG Print is the impact the investment has had on the bottom line, and, along with the other new kit, the Meteor has helped TG Print double its size over the past four years, to become a £3m-turnover business.

And testament to the success of the TG Print-MGI relationship, is the fact that key to the printer's future growth plan is the purchase, in a few months' time, of an MGI JETvarnish coater for spot UV work. "That will allow us to carry out spot varnish work to a totally different level," enthuses Duhig. "It's very thick and rich looking. If you were to compare the MGI result and that from a conventional silk screen device as a customer, you'd think ‘I want the MGI next time'."

"We know with MGI that the back-up is good and that the service is excellent, so we trust buying another machine from them even though it's just been released and there's only a few hundred in the world," he adds. "We're just very happy with what we've seen of MGI and very confident with the technology."

What does the product do?
Ilford's Omnijet Display Media Kit is a system for producing backlit transparencies using inkjet printing, which has been developed in association with Epson and has been optimised for the popular Epson Stylus Pro 11880. It includes display film, laminates and dedicated RIP profiles. It is designed to equal the highest quality RA4 silver-halide print, like Kodak Duratrans, produced using laser exposure devices, such as the Durst Lambda, but with less fuss and at lower cost.

When was it launched and what market is it aimed at?
The Kit was launched at the end of 2012. While backlit inkjet media isn't new, Ilford and Epson claim that output comparable to the best photographic media in terms of density, resolution and subtle gradation is. Applications include close-viewed cosmetic point-of-sale displays.

How does it work?
To produce a backlit poster, the file is printed on an Epson machine onto a coated film and then enclosed between the two laminate films. This product consists of the photo-quality translucent display film and two rolls of laminates for front and back hot lamination. The rolls are available in 1,270mm and 1,520mm widths to match traditional silver halide widths and come in 40m lengths for optimal productivity. All the films are polyester - so theoretically recyclable. Two RIP developers - Caldera and Onyx - are involved as well and, as part of the Media Kit, offer optimised colour profiles to get the best quality.

How does it differ from previous products?
While backlit inkjet films themselves aren't new, the level of quality is a different class, according to Ilford global business development manager for commercial wide-format Mark Sanderson. In side-by-side comparisons with RA4 prints, big brands, including Clarins and Aveda, have accepted the results as on a par with a Lambda, a promising sign considering Lambda jobs often fetch three times the £15/m² other inkjet backlits sell for.

How productive is it to use?
Print speed is not the fastest, but according to Ilford, overall productivity is higher since there is no need to wait for an RA4 processor to warm up, no metres of waste getting the processor stable; and the laminates mean it is more robust than RA4, making installation simpler.

Printing is carried out at the highest resolution of the Epson machines (2,880x 1,440dpi), although Ilford expects to be able to offer a 1,440x720dpi production mode that is almost equal in quality, but much faster.

What is the USP of the product?
The key selling points are Duratrans/Lambda quality at inkjet media pricing and ease of use, according to the company. Sanderson says that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Ilford's expertise in coating makes the most of the Epson printer and ink, he adds.

How easy is it to use?
Compared to a photographic system, it's a breeze, says Sanderson. There's no need to maintain and run a processor, to keep colour accurate, and no dealing with chemicals and silver recovery.

How much does it cost?
An Epson Stylus Pro 11880 costs £10,194, while the inks cost £240 per 700ml pack. Ilford argues the cost of the printer, RIP and laminator is less than the annual support contract on a photographic printer and processor. If you have any of the kit already, the cost is reduced. Running costs comprise the coated film, the laminates and the inks. Compared to silver halide films, the substrate is 20% cheaper, according to the firm, although it was unwilling to provide precise pricing.

What is the sales target, how many are installed in the UK?
UK users include Colouration in London and Ipos Design in Manchester. With the popularity of Epson printers there is a wide base to target.

SPECIFICATIONS

Four years ago, the firm invested in a double-decker bus. Its main purpose in life is to get the Alpha name out there and do some good at the same time by hosting charity events, such as a recent open forum on mental health, but when not fighting the good fight, the bus lived for two years at the company's Gloucestershire site. "It was quite novel," says quality assurance manager Dave Oldfield, "because we used to sit and have meetings on it."

The double-decker has been parked up outside managing director Jeff Williams' house since 2011, waiting to be revved into charitable service. But Alpha Colour Printers is still on the move: it has spent the past five years expanding into the digital market. Williams set up the company 33 years ago, printing alone from his father's garage. Since then, it has acquired 35 employees and moved to an impressive facility in Quedgeley, Gloucestershire, with - says Williams - an annual turnover of "around £4m". The firm prints a broad remit of work, from wide-format vinyl graphics to catalogues.

Twelve months ago, Alpha sought to update its kit line-up with a new digital press. The company had had its eye on a Ricoh Pro C901 machine for some time, and the news that Heidelberg, trusted supplier of the company's litho presses and workflow solutions, was to supply Ricoh kit, cemented Alpha's decision.

"With Heidelberg we feel confident of the support and integration services," says Williams. "This made the decision easy." He explains that having Heidelberg calibrate all litho and digital equipment to a common standard was a real attraction.

So it was decided that the Ricoh Pro C901, also now known as the Linoprint C901 when supplied by Heidelberg, would replace the firm's Konica Minolta Bizhub Pro C6500. "The Konica machine was very good for us when we first bought it," says Oldfield. "It was a nice lead-in to the digital market, as it was our first digital machine. It put us in good stead to move up a level and we have done that with the Ricoh Pro C901."

Short-run demand

The firm needed the new machine to print increasingly short runs of catalogues, brochures and leaflets. Williams and Oldfield looked into the Konica Minolta Bizhub Press C8000, the updated version of their existing digital machine, to facilitate this, but Oldfield feels that "the quality was better on the Ricoh; it was just that step up."

He adds that the machine's in-built bookletmaker (a feature shared by its predecessor) was a must. This feature means that Alpha can complete entire jobs in-house, from start to finish: customers send artwork files to the company, they're printed on the Ricoh, and the incorporated bookletmaker then folds, roll-folds or stitches the final product. Delivery is completed the following day.

"There's a company we do a catalogue for every single month," says Oldfield. "It's brilliant to be able to have a finished job come off the back of the machine and literally put it straight into the box to deliver. To go from file to final product all from one machine is very useful.

"Having the bookletmaker and all the finishing on the end just speeds up the whole process, too. Customers - especially when they're looking at short-run - want it there and then. They don't understand all the processes that go into it. To be able to put it all in-line on the Ricoh machine - that's just what we wanted."

Because Alpha's only other printers are two Heidelberg litho presses, technically the C901 is the company's only digital machine. However, a mutual understanding with Gloucester City Council ensures the firm has two digital machines to fall back on. Alpha has a contract with the Council and runs its in-house printing site, which features two Konica Minolta machines. "The Ricoh is a back-up for them and vice versa for the Ricoh," he says. "We're not without a digital machine if one goes down."

That's not to say that the Ricoh machine is expected to go down. The installation took a day with no hiccups. That evening, the company printed business cards on the machine and since installation, engineers have been called out only for routine replacements of parts, which director Richard Butt says is to be expected. "With all digital machines, you're going to get engineers coming in," he says. "We've probably had people come in two or three times a month, for replacements rather than breakdowns; the parts will only go for so many clicks before they need changing.

"Also, in the early days, we had engineers out to do jobs we can now do ourselves, because we were on a learning curve with the machine. Since our previous digital press was the Konica Minolta, this one is built differently and we didn't know where the parts were. But the engineers have taught us how to do those things now."

As for downtime, Oldfield says that moving from litho to digital has been educational. "You get more downtime with digital machines than with litho presses; a litho press is made to produce 15,000 sheets per hour, non-stop, 24/7. No digital machine is made to run for that length of time. But I would say that the Ricoh Pro C901 suffers less downtime than the old Konica C6500. It's definitely better."

Tech tension
This tension between litho and digital is quite a factor in the Alpha business. Historically, even short-run work was still run on the litho machines because clients did not trust the quality of digital. The Ricoh machine has begun to change that, says Oldfield.

"We had a couple of customers who would never have any digital printing done anywhere at all," he says. "There was a really big retail brand that would always come to us to print on litho, even if it was only 150 copies. And then we showed them print outs on the Ricoh machine. Since then, they've been happy to have some litho and some digital work. They wouldn't have it digital on the old machine, but when they saw the Ricoh's print quality, they felt confident to put work on it. Other customers, too, are recognising the difference in quality.

"Digital printing is great, though it doesn't generally hold a match to the litho we produce. But this machine - along with other new technology - shows that the gap between the two is growing smaller."

Oldfield reports that the Ricoh meets the speed requirements expected of a short-run digital machine, too, reaching 90 prints per minute in both colour and black and white, with a warm-up time of less than seven minutes.

He adds that customers have been impressed by the machine's offering of cost-effectiveness and quality, and have begun placing more digital work with Alpha as a result of the investment. The Ricoh, he says, has put the spotlight on the company's digital capabilities. "People obviously knew that we could do digital work before, but I think this investment has highlighted where we are going with that kind of business."

Oldfield says that he would recommend the machine to any company with customers seeking short-run work for a low price. He says, though, that it shouldn't be the device of choice for those looking to complete the longer-run side of digital. The click charge would leave the job costing the customer more for lower quality, he believes. Hence, while some digital printers adopt higher runs on digital machines, Alpha keeps those longer runs on litho kit.

The Ricoh purchase has established the firm digitally, though, and the company continues to keep on the move, eyeing opportunities in burgeoning markets and investing accordingly.

"We try to identify new markets and invest," says Oldfield. "We've got a number of little things that we're getting into; the balance between them all is part of the key to our success. For example, we've recently invested further into specialist finishing equipment for the greetings card industry. That requires hot foiling, which is something we've really seen take off. We have had it for a few months and that's going very well."

"We take on very large projects, such as education work, while also completing a lot of walk-in work on top of that," he explains. "It means we can be going from a £50 job to a £30,000 job and everything in between. So our workload can sometimes not really fit the size of company we are, we really do push ourselves."

The business has been operating in its current set-up for seven years, since Hems took sole control of what was a partnership. Five years ago it moved to its current Sidcup location and bought a Roland XJ-640 as a moving-in present from supplier PrintMax.

"Like most small sign firms, when we started my partner and myself did everything, from the printing, to running the business to getting up the ladder to change light fittings," he explains. "We are still a small firm, but we have grown in the past few years and now our roles are more defined. I am able to spend more time running the business and seeing clients, and then we have two art workers and two fitters, two minders and an accounts person. So, though still small, we do have more definition in roles now than we did."

As to what the company prints, it is a mix of large-format work, says Hems. "We do large-format banners, but we also do other work, such as large-format photoboards for schools and colleges," he says. "We have always done this on Roland machines, then mount and wrap onto Dibond composite."

Up to December last year, the Roland machine in question was an XJ-740. However, Roland released the Soljet Pro4 XR-640 in 2012, and Hems found himself tempted.

"Although the XJ-740 was a good machine, it was 10-year-old technology," he explains. "When the XR-640 was announced, we were really pleased as it was everything we wanted in a machine. Interestingly, we had told them when we bought the XJ-740 that we wanted a machine that printed at the speed and width of the XR-640, but with a cut facility. A year later it appeared, although I don't think we can take credit for it!"

The Soljet Pro4 XR-640 operates at speeds of up to 49.1m²/h and at a maximum resolution of 1,440dpi. It can take media of between 315mm and 1,625mm wide with a thickness of 1mm with liner. The high quality is delivered, says Roland, because of the machine's use of dual printheads, which fire droplets of seven different sizes to "optimise image quality". As well as CMYK, light cyan and light magenta, the printer also has the capacity for a new light black ink, as well as metallic silver and white (to a maximum of eight colours). For the metallic inks, there are two print modes: blend, which enables natural metallics; and layer print, which produces deeper colours by covering silver with translucent CMYK.

A cut above
The machine also incorporates integrated Roland Print and Cut technology, enabling automatic contour cutting of images into any shape within the same workflow as the printing. Roland says this means printers can create point-of-sale displays, floor signage and stickers quickly and easily. For cutting, substrates can have a maximum thickness of 0.4mm with liner and 0.22mm without liner. The maximum cutting width is 1,600mm and the cutting speed is 10-600mm/s.

Signpost Signs' machine was installed two weeks before Christmas. Hems says that once he saw what the XR-640 could do, and because of his history with Roland, he did not need to look at what was else on the market.

"When we bought our first digital machine five years ago, we did extensive research into what was available, as we were relatively inexperienced in digital print," he explains. "It came down to a choice between Roland and Mimaki. What swung it at the time was that Mimaki eco-solvent printers at the time needed extraction, whereas the Roland did not. That swung it in Roland's favour, as there was not a massive difference between them other than that.

"Second time around, my knowledge of digital print is better and I know what is out there regarding flatbeds, hybrids and roll-fed. So this time I knew immediately that this machine was ideal for us as soon as it was announced and so we made the deal with PrintMax."

Hems particularly likes the print and cut facility, explaining that it is incredibly useful for turning around work and simplifying the process. He also praises the light black ink, explaining that it has improved quality substantially.

"Compared to the older machines, the quality is a massive improvement," he explains. "While some of our clients don't notice the improved quality, the design firms we work with have noticed, and though they had no issues with what they used to have, they can see the benefit of the machine. For instance, the gradients are smoother and so are the flood coatings. There is a visible difference."

Full speed ahead
On speed, too, Hems says there has been a noticeable impact using this machine. On banner materials, he explains, they never used to be able to print at full speed because quality would dip - on the new machine he says there is no quality compromise made when printing at full speed capacity.

"We are much faster now than we were," he reveals.

Since installation, the machine has been reliable, too. The machine has a year's warranty and Hems says it has not yet been called upon, not that he expected to.

"We have run Roland machines for five years and never had any real issues," he explains. "Reliability has been excellent. That's one of the reasons we have not shopped around.

"We run one printer here, and if that goes down we have lost our print facility. This makes the supplier and the machine integral to our business. The support and back-up of Roland is essential, then, and they have always been a great business partner for us. I think small businesses need a closer relationship with all suppliers than larger firms may do. The actions of our suppliers directly impact our performance. It is crucial that they know us as a business and how to serve our needs."

Despite all the positive comments, however, he concedes that the machine may not be the best fit for everyone. He believes that if you are running a VersaCAMM currently and you are only using it three days per week, then there would be other machines that would better suit you if you wanted to step up.

"The XR-640 needs to be printing every day because of the cost of the machine and the cost of the consumables," he says. "We do that level of work so it suits us, but if you don't then I would look at other options in the range."

As to whether he would buy another, he explains that it depends whether Roland continues the tradition of "improving the cost and the quality and the specs of the machine every four years or so".

As an expanding business, though, it may be that Signpost Signs may wish to upgrade to larger machines. However, Hems says that to step up from being a micro-business to a larger SME is a much bigger jump than many may assume.

"I think to take the business up to the next level in terms of turnover, you seem to need a disproportionate jump in staff and administration facilities," he explains. "Although we are naturally growing year on year, I think we will hit a certain level that we cannot go above unless we get bigger premises with bigger flatbed machines and more HR and admin support. It is a big leap to make."

And it is a step Signpost Signs currently does not need to make. With its XR-640 meeting all its requirements and a good mix of work coming through the door, Hems says things are going rather well just as they are.

Why it was bought…
Owner Steve Hems has always been a fan of the Roland machines and has used them since he bought the company outright seven years ago, taking sole charge rather than working with a partner. When the XR-640 was announced, Hems believed it to be the perfect mix of quality and speed and at a price that was "accessible". He part-exchanged his Roland XJ-740 for the machine.

How it has performed…
Hems says the quality is a big improvement on his former machine, with the light black particularly important. He adds that speed has also improved as he can now print at full capacity without any quality sacrifice. He says reliability, too, has been excellent.

When was it launched and what sort of firm is it aimed at?
The first PrintCafé shops were rolled out at the end of 2012. The aim is to provide a modern, welcoming retail digital printing service on the high street, covering short-run and personalised products from stationery and marketing collateral, through to plans and posters. PrintCafé is a development from the HP Print Station concept, which GDL member John E Wright was an early and enthusiastic adopter of.

How does it work?
PrintCafé has a small central team to provide support to the franchisees and to keep the website up to date. "Success is dependent on location and motivation," says John E Wright managing director Tony Barnett.

PrintCafé HQ can help with demographic analysis to make sure a location is suitable. University towns, especially those offering creative courses, have been the sites of early successes. As for motivation, Barnett says: "The key is to have a PrintCafé champion who is paid and incentivised correctly."

How does it differ from previous models?
PrintCafé is aimed at students and young professionals, especially those in creative sectors such as architecture, design and fashion. The core market is 18-28-year-olds. The brand and the internet cafe-style shop fitting are designed to welcome customers and encourage them to stay.

What's the return on investment?
According to Barnett, a high-street shop can expect to double its profitability, and increase sales by 20%-25%. "The average increase in sales at our stores was over £100,000 per year per branch in year one, resulting in considerably higher profitability because we were using existing space, staff and equipment," he says.

What is the USP?
Low set-up and ongoing costs for the printer, and accessibility, ease-of-use and fast turnaround customer-focused service for clients.

How easy is it to use?
The ethos of PrintCafé is to make printing approachable and easy for the customer. Stores feature open spaces, working areas and wifi to enable customers to get on with their work. Free printed guides to setting up files in Adobe Creative Suite are available to take away. The idea is that centre staff give hands-on help when required on preparing files to print.

What training and support is on offer?
The launch kit includes all the artwork for interior and exterior point-of-sale and marketing collateral, including print samples. Anything that can't be produced on-site can be outsourced to other PrintCafé members, or third parties. Sharing information, expertise and facilities with other PrintCafé branches is encouraged both informally, but also formally through six-monthly conferences with technical and marketing tracks. Lastly, staff training on technical and business issues is available centrally as needed for an additional fee.

How much does it cost?
If no additional printing equipment is needed then the cost to refurbish a store and apply the PrintCafé branding is in the region of £6,000-£10,000. Ongoing costs to operate the franchise are £500 per month - regardless of the level of business.

What is the sales target, how many franchisees are there in the UK?
To date, five PrintCafé stores (in Nottingham, Leicester, Derby, Gloucester and Uxbridge) have been rebranded and are up and running. By the end of the first quarter of 2013, another six (in Glasgow, Norwich, Sheffield, Worcester, Manchester and Liverpool) will have been rolled out, with plans for further sites during the second quarter already under way. After those sites have been established, further franchises will be available to non-GDL member companies. The plan is to offer one franchise per town or small city to prevent head-to-head competition. London is a special case, where multiple franchises will be granted.

SPECIFICATIONS

"We run a tight ship," says Benner. "We are very lean, we have a small dedicated staff and we do a lot of the admin elements of the business ourselves, rather than hiring people to do it, and the 16 staff we do have are very flexible and are willing to work different hours when required."

SM's work is a mixed bag, says Benner. "We obviously fulfil an overspill service for many people - no matter how much finishing kit a printer puts in, when they are busy they will always print more than they can finish. But we also do a lot of complex work that printers cannot do, as we have highly skilled staff and the right kit."

That kit expanded even further 15 months ago when, travelling in the opposite direction of the hoards of printers bringing finishing in-house, Benner brought a bit of printing in-house in the form of a Videojet BX6000.

"It means we can now apply inkjet onto mailers, which we traditionally just finished," says Benner. "Clients want to have as much done from a single source as possible and the BX6000 means we can meet that demand by personalising mailers, as well as finishing them."

Message centre
The Videojet BX6000 is a high-speed binary-array printing system launched in 2006, but upgraded in 2010 with new software and communications technology to make the machine ethernet-enabled. Jon Unwin, graphic sales manager for Videojet, says the machine is used by trade finishers, printers and mailing houses to put unique messaging onto any job without the need to buy a digital press.

"It's extremely fast; we have run it at over 10m per second printing unique messages," says Unwin. "It is a spot colour machine, and you can have a twin head system, which we believe is unique for this type of machine, so you can have two colours."

As for substrates, Unwin says you can pretty much put "anything" through the BX6000. "The ink is MEK-based and so no drying is needed as it dries in air within a second. So any substrate can go through it."

The BX has a top speed of 600m/min and a maximum resolution of 128x256dpi. The maximum print height is 51mm.

Benner says that when it comes to inkjet in this context, the choice was only really between Domino and Videojet. It so happened that Benner already had a connection with Videojet, having done some work with the company in the past, and fortunately, he felt its machine was superior.

"They are a really good company and the whole package was right for us," he explains. "The machine is excellent and so our mind was made up."

It was installed in August 2011 and was quickly in operation. Training lasted three days and was completed by three operators. Benner says support continued beyond that, with engineers on the end of the phone. It meant that the machine was producing jobs very quickly.

The BX does not have a static position within the printroom, instead it moves to wherever it is needed - flexibility that is key to the machine's productivity, says Benner.

"We move it around where we want it - on the back of the stitcher or the folder for example - we mount it where we need it and that flexibility is crucial," he reveals.

It is operated via Videojet's Crescendo Controller, which Benner says is a simple to navigate operator interface that comes standard with pass code sign-in levels to ensure appropriate access. He explains that the machine is supplied with everything you need on the software side, so "when the data is supplied and loaded into the machine, you can plan it all out on the interface of the BX6000. It is incredibly simple to work."

Speed-wise, Benner says the machine is more than capable of meeting his requirements. SM prints onto around 9,000 mailers per hour, far below the speeds of which the machine is capable. "You are not going to run finishing kit fast enough to ever trouble it," he explains.

The machine was supplied with a service contract and Benner says that 90% of any issues have been solved with a quick phone call. Indeed, reliability has been a big plus, with no serious issues since installation.

In terms of quality, obviously this is not a machine designed to print fine art photographs, but for the job at hand -printing codes and addresses and the like - Benner says it is more than up to the task and that he has had no complaints about the quality of the work being put down.

Indeed, the only concern Benner has had with the machine over the past 12 months is getting the message to customers that SM is offering the service.

"The service has grown, but we have had to really work at it," he explains. "There is not always a single point of contact at most companies, so you have to find your way to the right people to explain what you can offer. And even when we have explained our capabilities, we find a few months down the line that the contact at the client may change and we have to reiterate what we can do. You have to really push the message out to clients."

He adds that when the message does get through, the benefits to the business have been great. Not only is the company adding to its revenue streams, but it is also making itself more indispensable to the client by fulfilling more of their requirements.

Cracking the codes
And those clients have expanded rapidly since the machine was installed. "We are doing a large mailing every month for a large high-street retailer, which includes the printing of a name and address alongside a sequential number," says Benner, "We can also put a barcode onto the mailer. In addition, we have printed codes onto leaflets that are used for online registration of computer games."

The make-up of some of these jobs has gone against the general trend of plummeting run lengths. Benner says increased targeting and personalisation of mailers and other print work has meant run lengths have come down from the millions into the hundreds of thousands or even the tens of thousands. The large high-street customer, though, is a million-plus two-page run, as is another recent mailer. And the Videojet is more than capable of coping with that.

Overall, then, Benner is very pleased with what he terms a "significant" purchase. Adding some print capability has enabled SM to increase its workload and better meet client demands. It might have tempted some to move further into the print side of the business, but Benner has no plans to do so.

"We want to continue what we are doing - to continue promoting our new capability, to push the fact that as a one-stop shop we can save the client money," he explains. "We don't need to get bigger as a company, we just need to continue providing a top-quality on-time service to our clients. We are doing well enough without taking on more staff or more kit. The BX6000 has been a fantastic addition to our services, but it will be the only addition on the print side for the foreseeable future."