Offset Printing

Loyal Customers Share Heidelberg’s Commitment to Quality

Wednesday 09. December 2009 - Heidelberg USA announces the following new product installations:

Impressions Tell the Tale at Benchemark Printing

“Heidelberg is the only multicolor press we’ve ever owned,” said Brian Kosineski, Vice President of Benchemark Printing in Schenectady, NY. That’s hardly surprising, given that little more than one month since it commenced production on a new Speedmaster CD 102 6-color press with coating unit, the company has logged more than 1.5 million impressions and gained the ability to perform high-quality commercial sheetfed, POP and display work at faster speeds and with a greater degree of flexibility and color accuracy than ever before. The new press, which replaces a 1995 7-color Speedmaster SM 102 with 220 million impressions, joins the company’s existing pressroom lineup, including a Heidelberg Speedmaster SM 102 color press and a Speedmaster SM 102 8-color perfector with coater installed in February 2008, on which the company has accumulated more than 42 million impressions in the first 21 months of operation. The company also has a 1995 2-color SM 102 perfecting press on which the company does a lot of black/black printing.

“Board work is our biggest challenge,” Kosinesksi said. “We used to run 10,000 sheets per hour on the older press with the 24-pt. board we use for POP and display signage,” said Brian Kosineski, “Now we run the same jobs at 13,000-15,000 sheets per hour, we’re up to color within 100 sheets for a typical four-color job, and our makereadies are down by at least 10 percent across the board.”

Elsewhere in the shop, Benchemark operates a pair of Heidelberg Stitchmaster ST 270 6-pocket saddlestitchers, two 54″ POLAR guillotine cutters, and Heidelberg Printmaster QM-DI press for small-format work. Run lengths fall anywhere from 500 to 500,000, with most jobs averaging around 25,000 pieces.

Ninety-five percent of Benchemark’s clientele are located in New York State and the Northeast generally; customers include corporations, agencies, design firms, local schools and healthcare concerns. Since 1990, the company has operated American Hospital Publishing Group, Int’l, which designs and distributes patient information guides to 250 hospitals nationwide, with printing services provided by Benchemark. The company will celebrate a quarter-century in business in June 2010.

The company runs its fleet of Heidelberg presses hard, allowing 2-3 hours every Monday for routine maintenance to make sure the machines continue to perform as expected. “You know a Heidelberg press is going to last and last,” Kosineski said, citing his company’s longtime reliance on the brand. In the event a problem arises, he adds, Heidelberg’s comprehensive Systemservice 36plus kicks in to resolve it. In short, said Kosineski, “Heidelberg service, support and parts availability could not be better.”

Heidelberg’s Speedmaster CD 102 delivers enhanced performance.


FetterGroup Selects POLAR DC-M To Grow Label Business

FetterGroup is on a roll. Last month, the Louisville, KY-based company opened a new, 12,000-square-foot facility in Reno, Nevada, aiming to better serve its California clients and further expand its market reach on the West Coast. Closer to home, Fetter has been working steadily to expand its product and service offerings, especially on the label side. The company is extending its longstanding traditional expertise in square cut-and-stack labels for the paint and coating industries to highly specialized, highly decorative labels for makers of distilled spirits and wines.

In continuous operation since its founding in 1888, Fetter knows which tools work best to accomplish its production goals. Along the way, the company has gained a strong reputation for quality, service, and innovation using state-of-the-art technology. To accelerate its latest venture, the company’s label division, FetterLabel, recently purchased and installed a Heidelberg POLAR Label Cutting System with automatic in-line bander to cut and stack the intricate die-cut, embossed and uniquely sized labels it turns out in average quantities of 6,000-plus for a growing list of clients in the distilled spirits business.

Installed in early November, “The POLAR die cutter was a necessary addition to our equipment lineup to service this market,” said Dayna Neumann, Vice President of Marketing Strategy for FetterGroup. “We now exercise more end-to-end control over projects, and we gain the benefits of speed, accuracy, and incredible ease of use. While we have trained several operators on the POLAR system, typically one operator can run the machine, and the process of moving from installation to training to full production was seamless and smooth.”

Like Heidelberg, Fetter also is committed to helping its customers lower costs, reduce cycle times, and increase speed-to-market, and that is why, in terms of
equipment suppliers, Fetter learned a long time ago to separate the wheat from the chaff. The company’s pressroom boasts an impressive lineup of Heidelberg firepower, including an 8-color Heidelberg Speedmaster CD 102 with UV coater, a Heidelberg Speedmaster CD 102 6-color press with coater, a 6-color Heidelberg Speedmaster 102S, a 2-color Heidelberg MOZH with UV coater, and a Printmaster QM 46 2-color press, along with a Heidelberg saddlestitcher and POLAR guillotine paper-cutting system. Along with the POLAR DC-M label system with automatic in-line banding, the company also installed a Stahl USA B 26 16-page continuous-feed folder.

“Our relationship with Heidelberg is very important to us. Over the years, we’ve found that Heidelberg—like Fetter—strives to make a better product that suits the user. We like to do business with companies that share our ambition and our values, and we pride ourselves on being a Heidelberg shop because the association reflects our shared commitment to quality and to the customers we serve.”

The company is on track to realize a 15-20% increase in sales this year, with an additional $2 million budgeted for infrastructure growth in 2010.

POLAR DC-M Label Systems , available for both automated and semi-automated in-line operation.


Bartel Printing Ensures Integrity of Long-Distance Shipments with POLAR Bander

Over the past year, Bartel Printing has vastly streamlined its workflow with the addition of a Heidelberg 2-color Printmaster GTO 52 perfector and a Heidelberg Suprasetter A52 CtP device with workflow. Things now run faster and more smoothly in Bartel’s cutting department, too, since the company added a POLAR Single-Head BT Bander for in-line banding from its POLAR 92X guillotine cutters.

Established in 1970 and employing a staff of six, Warsaw, IN-based Bartel provides commercially printed products to a local clientele, including a number or orthopedic manufacturers and suppliers concentrated in the area. Because the company ships internationally, however, it needed a more durable means of securing products—typically, orthopedic patient information booklets or IFUs—for long-distance travel. The new POLAR BT bander provides an extra measure of protection Bartel lacked while it relied on traditional string-tying techniques.

“We wanted something faster that would hold our products together better during shipping,” said company president Penny Bartel. “The POLAR BT bander not only saves time and spares labor, but it also lends our products a more professional finish. Like all our Heidelberg equipment, of course, it is extremely reliable.”

When Bartel needs to step up its technology with the best quality equipment, Heidelberg always seems to have what Bartel is looking for. The company’s relationship with its primary supplier dates back to the 1970s for a reason. “All of our employees love the machines they work on, and nothing trumps the peace of mind that comes from knowing that you can count on the equipment you are using and the first-rate service to back it up.”

Bartel also operates a Stahl USA B 20 folder with flat pile feeder and right angle unit, a Eurobind 1200 perfect binder and a 10×15″ Windmill letterpress. It also uses assorted Heidelberg Saphira consumables, including Perfect Dot blankets and inks.

The POLAR Single-Head Bander BT bands label stacks supplied by the cutting machine.


Delta Graphics Cuts Waste, Boosts Efficiency with Printmaster 52 GTO

Delta Graphics, West Los Angeles, CA, is a small commercial print shop with an emphasis on custom work for ad agencies and design studios both here and abroad. Since the company’s founding in 1959, it has established an enviable reputation for consistent quality and reliability, as well as for environmentally responsible printing practices. To keep more of its small-format work in-house, Delta recently purchased and installed a Heidelberg Printmaster 52 GTO 2-color perfecting press, and in so doing realized significant improvement in efficiency and reductions in waste on a growing volume of small-format, short-order work.

“We used to outsource many of our print short-run, small-format jobs—typically, fancy stationery systems, envelopes and the like—or produce them on our 28″ machine, which needs 150 sheets to come up to color,” said Sean McCollough, owner, “Obviously, we had a lot more waste. With the new Printmaster 52 GTO, not only are we up to color within five sheets, but we also gain the flexibility to process a variety of formats and stocks, along with enhanced efficiency and ease-of-use. We also retain better control over the job. Customers tend to like the smaller sheet, especially since we also do a lot of die cutting and foil stamping on those orders. The Printmaster 52 GTO is a perfect match for the kind of work we do and the quality standards we strive to maintain.”

Elsewhere in the shop, Delta Graphics utilizes a Heidelberg drum scanner, Topsetter P74 platesetter, RIP system and workflow, as well as a Stahlfolder USA B 20 pile-fed folder, a POLAR 92E programmable paper cutter, and assorted Heidelberg Saphira consumables, including plates. Established in 1959, the $2 million, family run company employs a staff of 12.

“We’ve been very happy with our Heidelberg purchases,” McCollough said. “Not only are they are a reliable partner, but the service is also terrific.”

The Printmaster GTO 52 : Proven technology with high reliability in production.


Lead Concepts Sees Vivid Results with Saphira Bio Consumable Products

Lead Concepts, Inc., a direct mail marketer in Grapevine, Texas, provides in-house mailing and printing services for a roster of clients engaged in the financial services, healthcare, real estate and automobile industries, among many others.

“In today’s quick turn time market we find ourselves constantly searching for new products that improve our quality and maintain a performance level that meets our requirements,” said Leonard Cannatella, Production Manager. At Lead Concepts, most mail pieces require tight, two- to three-day turnarounds. As a result, Cannatella explained, “We are pulling jobs right off the press and taking them to bindery for cutting, folding, addressing and inserting,” a process that requires the company to utilize ink and chemicals that maintain quality and help the company achieve its stated goals efficiently and cost-effectively.

Heidelberg Saphira Bio consumables are a mainstay of Lead Concepts’ highly productive operation. “As soon as we switched to Heidelberg Saphira products, we noticed that our color sharpness and print quality were much better than with our previous inks,” Cannatella said. “We also found that we were able to lower our ink settings and maintain the same color, thus increasing our ink mileage.”

Along with finding consumable products that meet its own strict quality standards, Lead Concepts is pleased to be using inks and chemicals that are safer for the environment. These include Heidelberg Saphira Bio Press Wash, a vegetable ester-based product that contains less than 10 percent VOCs, and Saphira Bio Ink, which combines outstanding lithographic performance, press productivity, and print quality with ultra-low VOC content to deliver robust performance across a broad range of substrates and running conditions. Since making the switch to Heidelberg Saphira Bio consumables products, said Cannatella, “This has become one of our points we use when promoting printed products and mail pieces to our customers.”

Ultra-low-VOC Saphira BIO press wash and vegetable-based Saphira BIO inks help print shops run lean and green.

Atlanta’s Preprint Accepts Challenge of A Changing Market

Since its founding as a small graphics and prepress agency in 1990, Preprint has steadily broadened its focus and deepened its expertise to become a total solutions provider for its many satisfied clients. Over the years, the Atlanta-based, woman-owned commercial and quick printer has built a fine reputation for quality and customer service with the help of Heidelberg, its primary prepress, press and postpress supplier.

The company acquired its first small-format Heidelberg press, the 2-color GTO-52, in the late 1990s, and followed up with a 4-color Heidelberg QMDI, plus assorted pre- and postpress installations, including a Prosetter violet laser platesetter with Heidelberg workflow, a POLAR 52 cutter, in addition to a late-model Stahlfolder TD 154 with right-angle attachment. Most recently, Preprint replaced the original GTO with a Printmaster QM 46-2. Thus equipped, confirmed Timmi Verma, who owns and operates Preprint with husband Sanjeev,

“We’re not afraid to challenge ourselves. We’re always pushing the envelope in terms of speed, quality and technical mastery because we know we have the right tools for the job.”

Of the new QM 46-2, said Verma, “It has made life so much easier around here. Not only is the press extremely fast, but the registration is excellent, and we no longer have trouble maintaining solids. It’s small but effective, and it prints like a much bigger press.” Furthermore, said Verma, should a 4-color job require the addition of a fifth color, such as a metallic, “We can take it off the QMDI and put it right on the QM 46.”

The company protects all of its Heidelberg purchases with the full range of Heidelberg pressroom and prepress consumables, including Saphira Violet plates. The company also protects its new press with Heidelberg’s comprehensive, 36-month Systemservice 36plus service package.

The $1.2 million shop boasts a loyal clientele made up of regional local arts organizations, designers, Atlanta city government, Atlanta public schools, and a host of ad agencies and design firms.

Not surprisingly, Preprint’s relationship with Heidelberg is rooted in the reliability of Heidelberg equipment and the quality of its service. While the company’s service needs are few, “I firmly believe you get what you pay for in this business,” Verma said. “Early experience with competitive products taught us that the level of support we receive from Heidelberg is unmatched in the industry. I think that’s key.”