Inkjet & Digital Printing

Mannin customers challenged to “spot the difference” following Linoprint investment

Thursday 11. July 2013 - Its customers cannot discern the difference in quality between its litho and digital work and that was the acid test for Mannin Media Group, a printing and publishing business on the Isle of Man which recently installed the Heidelberg Linoprint C 901.

The company invited visitors in to look at the new machine, marking its debut in digital printing, and they gave away free business cards, a marketing initiative which has already paid for itself many times over. The company believes that in its first year of production the Linoprint C 901 will account for 20% of its turnover.
“We looked first at the C 751 but the volume of work we had which could easily transfer or secure justified our decision to go for the C 901. I am a big Heidelberg fan. We have a Suprasetter and a Speedmaster SM 74 already and we might trade in the SM 74 for an SX 74 in the next two years,” says Steven Brown, chief executive of the company.
“We might even have to return for a second Linoprint C 901 if the volume continues to increase. It is already outputting 200,000 pages a month and now we have also added a Duplo digital booklet maker,”
Mannin Media finds the breakpoint between litho and digital for them lies in the 500 to 750 window, varying of course on the nature of the job and its pagination.
Steven Brown visited the Heidelberg open house last month along with finance director Neil Briden and digital operator Chris Hampton. They admitted that they had looked at the HP Indigo option but it “offered things we didn’t need”, making the Linoprint C 901 the better fit.
Mannin Media’s Linoprint is operating on a flexible single shift basis and will handle work not only for the local Manx market but for companies in London and the Home Counties, including a religious organisation and high profile London theatre.
“Customers want the right quality, service and price and they don’t mind which technology is used to achieve that so we place work to the machine we think will meet those needs best,” says Mr Brown. “Litho still has a strong future and that is why we are looking for an investment in that area next.”
In addition to printing, the Mannin Media Group also publishes a number of titles including Manx Tales, Manx Life and Money Media from its site just outside Douglas.