Offset Printing
Top performance and profitable investments ward off crisis blues
Friday 17. April 2009 - Grafische Werkstatt von 1980 in Kassel teams up with the new KBA Rapida 106
he past five years have produced a handful of medium-format sheetfed offset presses designed for maximum speeds of 18,000 sph. But is this performance explosion actually necessary, in view of the trend to shrinking run lengths? Do printers really run their presses at such speeds, or is the whole thing just a marketing gimmick thought up by the manufacturers of high-speed presses?
The answer is to be found in the press room of “Grafische Werkstatt von 1980” in Kassel: The Rapida 106 there prints at a more or less constant speed of 18,000 sheets per hour. And thanks to the speed display above the delivery, this performance is brought to the notice of visitors as soon as they enter the print company.
As the name already indicates, the company was founded in Kassel almost 30 years ago. It was taken over by today’s partners Klaus Hopfstock, Nina Liebisch and Norbert Sander in 1988, and has been at home at Yorkstrasse 48 since 1991. Last year, the production floor space was expanded to a total of 2,400 m2. The partnership with KBA can be traced back almost to the founding years. An original two-colour press with high-pile delivery in format 50 x 70 cm was later complemented by a further two-colour press with perfecting unit for medium formats. Several press series from another manufacturer were used over the following years, until Grafische Werkstatt installed a high-tech Rapida press of the latest generation in October 2008: A five-colour Rapida 106 with inline coater and an impressive list of extras. The finishing department was also extensively modernised over the past few months, and its 24 staff have welcomed investments in a new cutting and trimming line, a gatherer and die-cutting machines. The upgrading is soon to continue in the prepress section, where the existing CTP setter is to be expanded into a fully automatic system.
Decision at pre-drupa open house
The experts from Grafische Werkstatt took a first closer look at the predecessor model of today’s Rapida 106 in February 2008. At KBA’s pre-drupa open house in April, subsequently, the decision in favour of the new high-speed press was finalised. “We were hoping for a significant reduction in the time spent on makeready, and also wanted to benefit from the speed capabilities,” says Klaus Hopfstock, explaining the background to the investment. The pessimists in his company were adamant that such aims were an illusion with the substrates they were using. And today? Matt-coated 75 g paper, with which it used to be possible to work at max. 10,500 sph on the four-colour competitor press, similarly for 3B-format, today runs stably through the Rapida 106 at a constant 18,000 sph. If the faster makeready is added to the equation, then the new press outputs 50% more than its predecessor, without any changes in job structure. On top of this, the work with the press is much more relaxed. The printers are highly motivated and like to show how fast their “baby” runs. “From that point of view, it was the right decision to install the big speed display, so that everyone can see what the press is capable of,” says commercial manager Jürgen Oberbeck, remembering that the idea was not greeted unanimously at the time. A total of 15 million sheets printed in 5.5 months is the proud result to date.
Waste-saving inline density control
All jobs are printed with continuous monitoring and control of the ink densities by way of QualiTronic Color Control. This system not only saves waste, it is also a boon for the press operators. Inline sheet inspection functionality is also available on the press, but is not to be activated for the time being. Simultaneous plate changing with DriveTronic SPC, on the other hand, was crossed off the wish-list from the very beginning. “Our runs are simply too long, and so the payback period for the additional investment in direct plate cylinder drives would have been unacceptably long.” Job changeovers are nevertheless completed in a flash with FAPC, the fully automatic plate change system. The majority of the jobs handled by the company are medical and trade journals, and publications for church publishers and institutions. Run lengths vary between 1,000 and 30,000 copies. Further business is found in books, general commercial work and posters. The latter are always very welcome due to the minimal internal organisation they entail and are popularly referred to under the heading “In, out and invoice”.
There was never any questioning the decision to configure the new Rapida 106 with the sidelay-free SIS infeed, because the side lays had often been a source of problems on the previous press. After all, as Klaus Hopfstock was delighted to note, the total elimination of the side lays automatically excludes any worries in this respect.
Ecological production
Another far from insignificant point is the reduced consumption of washing solvents on the new press. The brush-based washing systems of the old press used up to 600 litres per month, whereas 75 litres is the absolute maximum for the Rapida 106 over the same period. Furthermore, the waste heat of the compressors is used to heat the bookbinding department – another important contribution to ecological resource management and lower operating costs.
Inline finishing is a new production option for the printers at Grafische Werkstatt. So far, they have been working mainly with all-over protective coatings to permit faster further processing of the sheets, as well as primers for subsequent external finishing with UV effect or gloss coatings, for example. Coatings are presently used above all for magazine covers and illustrated books, but it is already planned to turn greater attention to the possibilities for drip-off coating effects.
Modern equipment calms the stormy waters
The print and post-press departments are now packed with state-of-the-art equipment. “That should have rounded off the major investments there for the time being,” says Klaus Hopfstock. The next concern is now to ensure full utilisation of the new machinery: How can we best position an owner-managed print company in view of the boom in web-to-print business in these times of economic crisis, how can we distinguish ourselves from the crowd, and how can we best exploit the market opportunities made possible by the new investments?
One of the answers could lie in Grafische Werkstatt’s all-round technical and consulting competencies, which are now to be communicated even more prominently than in the past. “We have specialists for almost every field in the company, and so even tricky questions can be solved without delay.” This is clearly one of the strengths of the company. Klaus Hopfstock: “We are confident regarding the loyalty of our existing partners, but everyone finds it difficult to win new customers these days. They have to be convinced of the added value which they forego if they choose an online provider, even though the savings there are often only marginal.” Or else they come automatically, because the product they need is not offered via the Internet.
Grafische Werkstatt, too, is noticing the effects of the economic and financial crisis. “The customers wait until the last possible moment before awarding their orders. And that means even less time for us to do the work,” is how Jürgen Oberbeck describes the present situation. The reduced numbers of pages in many publications are similarly a clear sign of the state of business in the individual branches.
Even so, Grafische Werkstatt von 1980 sees itself in a much better position than many other crisis-shaken companies and branches. After the investments in modern equipment, the management is convinced that even a difficult year 2009 will be mastered admirably.