Offset Printing
POTTS PRINTERS INVESTS IN SECOND ROLAND 700 PRESS
Friday 24. July 2009 - Northumberlands Potts Printers has confirmed a £1.2m investment in a five colour ROLAND 705 LV HiPrint press, to be installed in September 2009. The press will run alongside another ROLAND 700, a six colour installed in 2006, and provide a crucial boost in capacity that will keep the company on track with its ambitions to increase turnover from £9m to £12m by 2012.
Founded in 1875, Potts Printers is one of only a handful of B1 printers in the North East. Its latest ROLAND 700 features an infra-red dryer, APL automatic plate loading, ColourPilot closed loop colour control, QuickChange job changing system and manrolands Telepresence on-line diagnostics and repair system. Potts will run the press completely alcohol-free with fount solution from manrolands Printcom division, which will also supply the company with blanket wash and rollers, manila packaging sheets and a selection of coatings.
Shaun Johnson, Managing Director, Potts Printers said: “As were approaching full capacity and have set ambitious targets for the next two to three years, nows the right time to invest. We have been running a ROLAND 700 for over two years with great results and are now looking forward to the greater flexibility that will come with being able to run jobs across both presses. The second ROLAND 700 will also give our customers the option for really fast turnaround work – a market thats been growing for us of late. The automated quick change functions will also make us more productive and we will also now be able to do more specialist coating work.”
manrolands Telepresence system was a major selling point for Potts, who believe the peace of mind from 24/7 access to engineering and support will be invaluable. With Telepresence, manroland is able to solve approximately 50% of electro-mechanical and software faults remotely, without the need to send out an engineer. The system is a part of the Proserv after-sales support package which also includes modular maintenance schedules built to fit around customers operations and thus minimise disruption caused by essential press maintenance. Both of Potts ROLAND 700s will be covered by manrolands ProServ.
Mr Johnson continued: “We investigated the market thoroughly but settled on the ROLAND 700 because the service we have received from manroland to date has been second to none, and they have fulfilled every promise theyve made in terms of service and machine performance. The importance of support options such as the ProServ package, and particularly Telepresence, cannot be over-estimated when youre running a machine at over 35 million impressions a year.”
Gary Doman, Sheetfed Sales Director, manroland GB said: “This latest investment is a welcome boost in productivity for Potts and manroland is delighted to be able to play a supporting role in what is an exciting period of growth for the company. Its previous investment in a ROLAND 700 proved to be highly successful, with the press producing 50 million sheets in its first year. By its own account, Potts has enjoyed very good service and support from manroland and with the Telepresence system in place they will now benefit from real-time machine servicing and diagnostics, which will go a long way to preventing, eliminating and reducing downtime at the company.
“Potts is a very strong business that has maintained a great level of success by keeping one eye on the future and the company is proof that now is the ideal time to invest, because for now at least, interest rates are low and prices on capital equipment remain suppressed in general.”
As a commercial printer producing products such as business cards, stationery, accounts, folders, large run book work and marketing collateral, Potts Printers counts the NHS Newcastle Hospital Trust among its largest clients. As well as two ROLAND 700s the company is also running two Heidelberg B3 presses, two Heidelberg B2 presses, and uses AGFA Avalon chemistry-free plates. It also runs an Oce inkjet press for shortrun, quick turnaround work and its in-house finishing operation includes booklet makers, folders, die-cutters and folder/gluers. Potts Printers employs 115 staff, holds ISO 9001, 14001 and 18001 accreditation and is PEFC and FSC certified.
The ROLAND 700 HiPrint is a highly versatile press that will handle substrates from 0.04mm to 1.0mm in thickness. Double size impression cylinders and transferters make for almost flat, mark-free sheet travel and the press can print up to 17,000 sheets per hour. It is available with a full range of extras including DirectDrive automatic plate changing and InlineInspector quality control.