Offset Printing
Fairprint adds Anicolor to mop up sub 3,000 colour runs
Thursday 09. April 2009 - An increase in sales by 27% last year and a further increase of 28% to date this year has given Fairprint in Dundee the confidence to push ahead with another press investment.
The company already has an eight-colour Speedmaster and a Printmaster QM 46 but to bridge the gap it will take delivery next month of a Speedmaster SM 52-4+L Anicolor press.
“There is a perception that an Anicolor adds significantly to the cost of the press but we felt the premium was minor and the benefits significant,” says managing director Paul Anderson. “We made our choice after assessing the Presstek DI closely. We felt the cost of the plates was offputting and went for the Anicolor which could also give us coating for aesthetic lift and quick turnrounds.
“The amount of paper saving wasnt critical to us originally but when we did the sums we realised we would save one million sheets a year or about £1,000 a month. As significant is the reduction in set up time and this press will focus on the low run jobs where we could save 25% of the time over other presses. It means we maximise efficiency on all our presses.”
Fairprint attributes its success to having the right systems and service in place. Much of its work is generated through new technologies; indeed 90% of its new work is from England rather than Scotland.
“When new customers buy from us they dont move away because they see that we have the systems, structure and service in place to make print buying easy,” says Mr Anderson.
The company has spent both money and time on developing a bespoke MIS system which links in Customer Relationship Management software as well as Sage and Parcelforce programmes. There are more computers than staff at Fairprint and everyone has access to information at all times.
With the new press the company is looking to recruit one more person in prepress and one in the pressroom. The existing Suprasetter will continue to feed all presses although a second CtP device may be added in time if volumes continue to increase. The new press will initially run double day shifts although recently the business has had to operate its pressroom around the clock to meet demand.