Ryobi B2 press investment boosts orders for Cupit Print

Lincolnshire-based Cupit Print has seen an increase in business after investing in its largest press to date, a B2 Ryobi 785E installed in December 2012.

The five-colour Ryobi 785E offset litho press, purchased from Apex Digital Graphics, joins the company’s existing B3-format Ryobi 524GX four-colour machine and Ryobi 522HE + NP.

Cupit director Stephen Newton said the 524GX had been handling all of the firm's commercial work, but that it needed a larger format press to speed jobs through.

"We were having problems with production and bottlenecks. It was time to upgrade to a new machine to speed this up during our busy periods," he said.

The £420,000 press replaced a Heidelberg SM74 two-colour perfecting press, which Cupit had used for 12 years.

The Lincolnshire printer chose the Ryobi model, which was first launched in 2010, over upgrading with Heidelberg due to its competitive prices. "We were able to get a brand new machine with Ryobi, whereas if we went to Heidelberg we would have had to get a secondhand model. We’ve used Ryobi’s products for 10 to 12 years and they work well for us," said Newton.

In the three months since it was installed, Cubit Print has seen a boost in custom. "There’s been an increased demand from both existing and new clients as they know our capacity has increased. It’s definitely made us more competitive in the market," said Newton.

"Being able to make the Ryobi 785E ready for printing in just a few minutes means that we are able to move from job to job extremely quickly," he added.

The company produces commercial and publishing work, including leaflets and other tourist-focused print. Newton says he expects the press to run for 5-6 years.