Business News
Alpha excels and plans XL press addition
Tuesday 21. September 2010 - Alpha Colour Printers is taking its first Speedmaster XL 75 with an unusual 1:4 perfecting configuration and inline coater for seals and varnishes. Its ideal for greetings cards, which account for 40% of the companys business but also gives the option of a fifth special colour for the work it does for the financial services sector and local authorities. The model replicates its second CD 74 and replaces a six year old straight five-colour CD.
The investment by the Gloucester printer comes on the back of a 16% increase in sales this year, an improvement is puts down to going the extra mile for its customers and its quality record.
“In the intervening six years since the first B2 Speedmaster was installed the on-going Heidelberg research and development has shown through and the XL 75 press is a staggeringly impressive machine,” says Jeff Williams, managing director. “The quality is great and its easy to use. We wouldnt entertain buying any other make of press because we have had such good experience with Heidelberg equipment.”
Like the previous presses, the XL 75 will be installed with AxisControl, one of Heidelbergs spectrophotometric colour measurement devices, allowing it to operate with closed loop colour. The company will undergo a Print Colour Management audit and, through its service contract, colour monitoring over a two year period. Jobs off the press will be assessed to check that the colour replication meets Heidelbergs ISO 12647 certification standard.
Average runs on the press are expected to be in the region of 5,000 to 20,000 sheets. The coater will not only give work an aesthetic lift but will speed the turnrounds as work can move into the finishing areas straight away without the fear of marking.
The £1.1m press will be installed at Alphas factory in the new year.
The company operates a double day shift switching to full 12 hour shifts at peak times. In addition to a front to back production operation, the company even has a London Routemaster double decker bus for client promotional events and charitable causes, even supplying the graphics to “dress” it if required. Thats the type of innovative thinking that has helped grow the business over the last 30 years.