Offset Printing

Growing Austin Shop Installs Prosetter Violet Platesetter, Printmaster PM 52 Press and POLAR Cutter from Heidelberg

Tuesday 01. July 2008 - A lot has changed over the years for Republic Print & Mail in Austin, Texas, which has grown from its beginnings as a franchise quick-print operation to a full-service general commercial shop with 15 employees. The shop recently upgraded its prepress, press and postpress operations with new equipment from Heidelberg in order to keep up with business growth.

“The high volume of work was getting to be a problem,” Sam Painovich, one of the business partners, said. “We were consistently backed up and struggled to keep up with the work. Our presses were simply not up to the task.” In April, the shop installed a Prosetter 52 violet platesetter, a 4-color Printmaster PM 52 perfecting press and POLAR 78X cutter, all from Heidelberg. The company runs Heidelberg Saphira violet plates for every job. “We were amazed by the level of technology today,” Painovich said. “We never imagined all of the things this press can do. Now that it is up and running, the results are even better than expected.” Although quality and efficiency were key reasons the shop went with Heidelberg, having a single, integrated service provider for prepress, press and postpress equipment was another factor. “The ability to rely on Heidelberg systemservice will be critical to our success with the new equipment. The high level of service has been unlike anything we’ve ever had.” To ensure continued quality and reliability, the shop uses all Heidelberg Saphira consumables for its press and prepress equipment. “We’ve always had to mix and match equipment and chemistry,” Painovich said. “That means testing products to see how things perform, and when they don’t, having to regroup and start the process over. We’re making it easy for ourselves by using tested and approved Heidelberg Saphira consumables, and everything is running smoothly.”