Offset Printing
Cober to Install New Speedmaster XL 106 from Heidelberg with First Plate-to-Unit Machine
Friday 04. February 2022 - With a steadfast commitment to efficiency, customer centricity, and continuous investment in the latest technology, Cober, headquartered in Kitchener, Ontario, continues to grow and advance as the premiere commercial and third-party printer in all of Canada.
The 106-year-old family-owned commercial printer will take one step closer to achieving its goal by installing a new Speedmaster XL 106-8P from Heidelberg with the first Plate-to-Unit device in North America.
The new press together with the fully automatic printing plate logistics system will drastically decrease makeready times and waste and eliminate bottlenecks throughout production.
Keeping Up with Demands
Cober, with three locations throughout Canada, is experiencing growth in both its enterprise B2B and on-demand sales channels. Having made recent investments, the company was well positioned to keep up its increasing demands from a digital print perspective but felt it needed to improve its capacity for medium to long runs. “The investment in the new Speedmaster with Plate-to-Unit,” said President Todd Cober, “will fill this gap perfectly and provides a seamless transition for our customers in terms of quality, speed, and price.”
With speeds of 18,000 sheets per hour and fast makereadies thanks to Heidelbergs new intelligent User Experience (UX), autonomous Push-to-Stop technology, and AutoPlate Pro, the automatic plate changing device, the new Speedmaster XL 106 will be a significant upgrade in speed and technology over the companys current presses. Heidelberg UX, together with a whole host of assistance systems, provides the best possible support for operators at the Prinect Press Center XL 3 control station and at the press itself. Additionally, to ensure makeready times are kept short, the patented Intellistart 3 system automatically determines the makeready processes required for jobs to be produced. Additional time will be saved with the presss new LED technology, which will speed up cure times for the press sheets. “The LED technology is great for our on-demand business,” said Cober. “Well be able to get jobs to customers faster because we can finish the sheets right away and not have to worry about marking or drying time.”
The XL 106, which is set to be installed in late spring, will replace the companys current 12-year-old press. Cober anticipates the new press will immediately add 30% more capacity to the shop, which is needed to fulfill new business coming in, plus provide an additional 30% capacity for growth. The company also anticipates a significant decrease in its makeready paper waste, which will help its goals of being more sustainable. An added benefit of the advanced technology is its ease of use versus earlier offset technology. “Looking down the road, we believe it will be easier to on-board new press crew members when the need arises,” said Cober.
First Plate-to-Unit in North America
With a history of investing in the newest technology, Cober is excited to install the first Plate-to-Unit in production in North America. “This new unit is going to allow us to achieve consistently high productivity regardless of run length,” said Cober. “We do a lot of short runs with high page counts that require a large amount of makereadies every day. Platemaking was becoming a bottleneck for us.” Bottlenecks will be eliminated thanks to the new and fully automatic printing plate logistics at the press. With Plate-to-Unit, ready to hang plates are provided and removed using a fully automated process. In addition to reducing the operators workload, the automation increases the reliability of plate changes and reduces the risk of scratches on the plate, which can cause paper waste.
To further maximize the productivity of its new investments, Cober will also use Heidelbergs Prinect Production Manager and Saphira Consumables. While historically a Heidelberg user, this will be Cobers first experience with consumables from Heidelberg. New to LED technology, the company wanted “to partner with someone who could manage the variables for us rather than us trying to figure it out for the first time.” Regardless of the products or technology it is investing in, Cober continues to trust in its relationship with Heidelberg. “We know the commitment that Heidelberg has to their products,” said Cober. “We know that Heidelberg has Cobers best interest in mind.”