Heroprint Doubles Stock Range with New HUV 10 Colour Komori
National trade printer Heroprint with offset/digital plants in Sydney and Perth and standalone digital plants in Melbourne and Brisbane, has increased its stock offering dramatically in the last 3 months.
The company now offers over 30 stock options if finishes are included. As Hero general manager Alex Coulson explains, “Until recently we were content to offer a limited range of stocks as we could always fill offset runs with ganged up material.”
But times have changed. “With the big increase in capacity we find we can offer more stocks and turn them around quickly” he says. There is no doubting the productivity of the new Komori HUV 10 colour press at Heroprint’s Sydney factory. Scarcely run up to speed at the Alexandria site, it has already set records, pushing through 11 different printing jobs in just 90 minutes.
The new HUV perfecting press is assigned the role of printing the short-run jobs that are now increasingly the staple of the industry. Its automation and fast plate changes, as well as immediately ‘dry’ print, make it the ideal press for the busy factory.
According to Coulson, the Lithrone G40 P has lifted productivity in the company to a different level.
“The whole start up has gone very smoothly and we’re still trying different substrates on the press,” he said. “The team at Alexandria are experimenting with different laminates and coatings, even clear sheets”.
The new Lithrone is part of a substantial investment makeover that has powered Heroprint in the past year. It includes a new HP Indigo7800, which now concentrates on short run quality digital.
It’s part of addressing the changing needs of the marketplace, as well as Heroprint’s own growing volumes. The company has broadened its capacity and capability, making good use of existing assets even as it embeds the new. A conventional Komori 10-colour perfector still operates in Sydney, and while it cannot compete against the fast changeover and instantly dry prints of the new Lithrone, it does have terrific varnishing capacity, which many clients still prefer.
The refurbished Sydney factory has located the new press in an air-conditioned, ultra-clean glass enclosure. It is suitably space age and modern with scarcely a sound escaping into the broader factory as the big press eats up the work.
The new mix of offset – HUV and traditional ink – and digital is a response to the changing market.
“We know our market and while we’re not the cheapest by any means, we’re very reliable and quality conscious. Our customers come in for press checks and they’re very excited by the new press” says Coulson.
Always ready to embrace the new he is looking forward to visiting drupa next month where the developments in inkjets and digital embellishing are high on his list of ‘must sees.’