Richardson Printing buys Komori Lithrone

Lowestoft-based Richardson Printing has replaced its eight-year-old Komori Lithrone 528 with the latest five-colour Lithrone S-series 529.

The move is part of the company's policy to regularly replace its machinery and the new press was installed just before Christmas and joins a 2008 B2 529 machine.

General manager John Richardson said that financing the new press was not a problem. "It's tough out there," he said. "But we don't overspend and keep a tight rein on things."

Richardson said the press, which runs alcohol-free using vegetable based inks, was ideally suited to its work mix. "Many of our customers require jobs with heavy solids, and with more customers going over to uncoated stocks we need machines to cope with today's varied demands.

"We had no hesitation in buying a Komori again - it had to be another five colour as we use the fifth unit for sealing to help with the quick turnaround times that are demanded more now and we also use it for metallics and fifth colours on covers and point of sale material."

The 20-staff company is part of a group that includes Micropress and Think-Ink and produces general commercial work from business cards and brochures to perfect bound books for a range of clients such as creative agencies, print management and trade.

"Our run lengths vary from 500 to 20,000 although most are below 5,000 so the latest model's KHS-AI quick makeready combined with its higher maximum running speed gives us faster turnaround and lower waste. Komori's S-Series upgrades on the Lithrone's sheet transfer are also proving excellent in eliminating marking on high ink coverage jobs," added Richardson.