Offset Printing
The formula for success for customers enjoying growth in small-format offset printing is specialization and equipment from Heidelberg
Wednesday 13. March 2019 - They still exist, the small companies that make good money with successful business models. What is their formula for success in the era of online print shops, industry consolidation, and increasing industrialization? They have certain things in common: they are generally owner-managed family businesses with strong customer loyalty and above all a business model that is difficult to replace due to specialization.
Furthermore they use the latest and most innovative technology to be able to grow in this niche and always offer the customer the best. For production they need machines that combine flexibility and a wide variety of substrates. The Speedmaster SX 52 from Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) has proven itself in this respect in small-format offset printing in the 30×50 format. With the innovative LED UV drying technology , it also delivers the advantages of a dry sheet in the delivery and therefore immediate finishing. The end customers reap the benefits in the form of high quality, impressive finishing effects, and fast delivery.
Wiesendanger Medien combines tradition and progress
“We enjoy the challenge and have chosen to specialize in flexible materials that are difficult to print, mainly plastics,” explains Peter Wiesendanger, Managing Partner at Wiesendanger Medien GmbH. He took over the company in 1999 from his father Siegbert, who founded it in Murnau in 1969. The full-service operation made the switch to UV printing, and today its 40-strong workforce produces printed matter for cooperating print shops, agencies, and industry. The company has specialized in mailshot production and built up extensive know-how, and as a result customer confidence, on the topic of data security in this context. A second focus as of last year has been the production of mouse pads, doormats, and high-quality gift boxes for high-quality gift boxes produced for a well-known provider of adventure vouchers. “These products require a high level of consultation, so we have six sales advisors on staff,” reports Peter Wiesendanger. “You cant get that from an online print shop, and our customers are extremely loyal”. As the ideal complement to the existing large format and for shorter runs, since mid-2017 he has been using a Speedmaster SX 52 five-color press with coating unit that supports both full UV and LED UV inks. “With this changing system I have the greatest possible flexibility and can satisfy my customers by providing them with the special products they request,” sums up Wiesendanger. “The quality, the variety of gloss effects, and the high gloss points are simply perfect – the Speedmaster SX 52 has fully met my requirements in the plastics market.” His past experiences with Heidelberg have been good: for example, there is a Speedmaster CX 102-5+L full UV in the press room and a Suprasetter 106 in prepress. All the machines are backed up by service agreements and Wiesendanger appreciates the benefits of Remote Service, which works quickly and without complication.
Gessler.Zwahlen offers top quality for the watch industry
The Swiss printing company Gessler.Zwahlen in Neuenburg counts major watch brands among its customers. The orders are extremely exacting in terms of print quality and delivery deadlines. More and more, customers want a wide variety of substrates. The company has been using a Speedmaster SX 52 four-color press with LED UV since the end of 2017. “With the Speedmaster SX 52 we get perfect printing results, can print almost any material, and the orders can go straight into postpress without a drying phase,” says Managing Director Eric Brechbühl in summing up his positive experiences with the press. The Speedmaster press is the first machine in Western Switzerland with the innovative LED UV drying technology. “In Heidelberg we have a supplier whose range of solutions is recognized in the market and from whom we also purchase our Saphira consumables, which are fully certified and optimally tailored to the press,” says Brechbühl.
www.gessler-zwahlen.ch (French)
Bieler Kuvert Druck specializes in envelope printing
Bieler Kuvert Druck AG based in the Swiss municipality of Wollerau prints around 50 million envelopes each year. Since spring 2017, it has been assisted in this by a four-color Speedmaster SX 52 LED UV. “We searched for an industrial press that would be a good fit for the challenging job of printing envelopes and found it in the Speedmaster SX 52,” confirms owner Markus Bieler. “We now have the level of cost efficiency required for envelope printing, and can achieve outstanding printing results.” This befits the motto of the company established in 1986: “Attention of an atelier, efficiency of a large enterprise.” The former one-man operation has grown to a staff of twelve today and offers printing of business stationery in addition to the main focus of envelopes. Two benefits of the Speedmaster SX 52 are especially important to Markus Bieler. These are the perfect printing and the stable ink-water balance. This means that printed products with consistently high quality can be achieved, even with small graphic, image, and text elements with minimal ink consumption. And the register accuracy means that full bleed motifs are possible on the front and back. “The envelope makes an initial impression, communicates the brand message, and acts as a brand ambassador – with our high quality, we make this a reality for our customers,” says Markus Bieler.