Offset Printing
Autoplate XL gives Stephens & George lower makereadies on third XL 105
Monday 17. May 2010 - Stephens & George has just taken delivery of its third Speedmaster XL 105 long perfector.
The ten- colour runs alongside another ten- and an eight-colour XL 105. These presses have now replaced 38 units of SM 102 and they will achieve an expected output of 5 million impressions a month, 60 million a year. This is a net annual output combined that it could not have dreamed of achieving on the four SM 102 long perfectors they have replaced.
Like the previous XL105s for Stephens & George the new press is equipped with water-cooled peripherals, CutStar reel to sheet technology and Inpress Control spectral measurement and automatic inline colour and register adjustment. But in addition it is taking the Autoplate XL, Heidelbergs simultaneous plate changing device.
“Autoplate XL gives us the opportunity to reduce makeready times even further which is critical for short run work. Magazines have declined and some publishers have reduced runs. We have won work from web producers in recent months,” says Andrew Jones, managing director of Stephens & George.
“The colour predictability of running closed loop colour and to ISO 12647 standards using Inpress Control means that one major publisher had decided not to do on press passes any longer because he knows our colour is predictable and provable.
“This latest XL 105 completes our press investment for the foreseeable future. Three XL 105 long perfectors and two B2 Speedmasters gives us sufficient firepower for both our magazine and commercial print customers.”
That said Mr Jones will still attend Ipex. Alongside the new press, the company has updated two of its folders with a pair of Stahlfolder TH 82s, highly automated buckle machines.
“These are faster, more accurate and produce a better quality fold,” says Mr Jones. “This is often an area where bottlenecks can occur but we have nine folders in total and these latest models are very productive.”
The Stephens & George plant in Merthyr Tydfil is 120,000 sq ft and works around the clock. The company is just two years off its centenary.