The beginning of 2025 has brought new investments for Alpha, which prints greetings cards, signs, business cards and brochures. It installed a new Heidelberg Versafire LV, replacing an older Linoprint, just before Christmas and has spent money on its foiling and die-cutting capability.
“The Linoprint wasn’t old, but we really like to keep our machines up to date. The main reason we bought it though is because while we already print neon in litho, we wanted the ability to print it digitally as people are wanting shorter and shorter runs. So this is a new capability for us,” managing director Amy Muldrew told PrintWeek.
The five-colour Versafire LV offers seven spot colour options, including white, varnish, neon yellow, neon pink, gold, silver and invisible red. It can produce up to 3,180 A3 sheets/hr and supports a wide range of substrates, including materials from 40 to 470gsm. It can also print banners up to 1,260mm long on one side and up to 1,030mm on both sides.
Muldrew said the device was opening new doors.
“We already print a lot of textured board and we’re seeing a big improvement on the printing results we were getting previously as well as better productivity and efficiency.
“But, what’s really exciting are the enquiries we are having specifically for the neon inks. We’ve done loads of samples for various people and we’ve spoken to a neon sign company and a greetings card magazine, among others, about new opportunities,” she added.
On the new Printect frontend system, Muldrew said: “Prinect has also made a huge impact on how we work, providing a streamlined and efficient workflow for our team and allowing us to manage jobs easily and track production progress in real time.
“Prinect integration has resulted in less manual input and fewer errors, enabling our staff to focus on high-quality print production for our customers,” Muldrew said.
The company has also just ordered a new SBL automatic foil stamping and die-cutting platen, from SBL Machinery, which is due to be delivered at the end of July.
“We’ve seen a real uplift in the amount of people wanting foil embossing as more and more are getting rid of glitter on their cards. This will give us more capability in that area,” Muldrew explained.
The ABL device will sit alongside the firm’s existing five foilers.
Established in 1979, Alpha Colour Printers owns a 2,230sqm factory and serves a broad client base that includes advertising agencies, local authorities and educational institutions.
