Offset Printing
Six-Color Mitsubishi Perfector Provides Cross Media with More Speed, Productivity and Inline Features
Friday 25. January 2008 - At Cross Media, traditional print combines with electronic communications to give customers the appropriate tools for executing their marketing and promotion plans. An important recent addition to the Dallas-based company's "marketing implementation" toolbox is a Mitsubishi Diamond 3000R convertible perfector with aqueous coater.
“We wanted a newer and more automated machine for our conventional offset production,” said Kevin Gill, vice president/general manager. “The new press provides a quality product with quicker makereadies and faster turnarounds.”
Established as Pro Printing Services in 1991, Cross Media has evolved from a three-employee quick print shop that made do with 1,600 square feet of leased office space to one of the Dallas/Fort Worth area’s fastest-growing printers. Its multiple facilities total in excess of 50,000 square feet and produce more than 2.6 million printed pieces per day. About 75 employees now work for the company, which generates over $14 million in revenues.
Cross Media has expanded its menu of offerings over the past couple years to encompass a host of marketing implementation capabilities. Automated campaigns, collateral management, graphic design and promotional products help clients deliver content efficiently and cost-effectively. As a result, Cross Media mails more than 250,000 pieces each week and delivers over 10 million ad specialty items a year.
Small and medium-size businesses from many different industries represent a significant segment of Cross Media’s client base. Its marketing support expertise has been sought as well by the likes of Texas Instruments Inc., Blue Cross Blue Shield, Comcast, Microsoft Corp., Hewlett-Packard, Sara Lee and Houghton-Mifflin Co.
The printing services at Cross Media include sheetfed, web, digital, screen and flexographic printing.
“We print the full gamut of commercial products, along with brochures, catalogs, books and publications,” Gill said. “Traditionally, printing for the educational market has been a solid niche, accounting for about 30 percent of our work.”
The company’s digital printing capabilities meet the needs of high-quality, one-color to four-color work, such as print-on-demand textbooks and self-published books. The sheetfed lineup is able to handle simple small-format jobs up to complex eight-color, 40-inch projects.
“Our run lengths will go up to 400,000 sheets for monthly and quarterly publications,” Gill noted. “The book work can be 5,000 to 10,000 perfect bound or case bound copies with lots of signatures.”
Ideal for publication printing, the six-color, 40-inch Diamond 3000R is Cross Media’s second Mitsubishi perfector. The company installed an eight-color Diamond 3000R in 2004. The new press replaced an older perfector from another manufacturer.
“A big reason we bought the six-color perfector is the fact that we have been very pleased with the performance of the previous Mitsubishi press,” Gill said. “These days, all the presses from the major manufacturers print well, but Mitsubishi presses produce better results when using heavy coverage and solid colors.”
Both Mitsubishi presses are highly automated to ensure short makeready times and consistent color.
“The automated plate-changing systems on the presses are very fast,” Gill said. “We also have closed-loop color control, Mitsubishi JobLink and ColorLink systems for both presses. The new press takes advantage of the X-Rite IntelliTrax auto-scanning system.”
Gill said the Mitsubishi presses have achieved a “noticeable improvement” in makeready speed. “Our makereadies are 25 percent faster than they were on our other press,” he said.
Gill added that Mitsubishi presses rate high in terms of reliability. “In particular, the printing stock feed is extremely reliable and constant,” he said. “We have more uptime, which means greater productivity.”