Spectrum slashes makereadies with second XL 75-5+L
SPS specified its new XL75-5+L with Heidelberg’s Inpress Control and Autoplate XL technology, giving a marked reduction in makereadies versus the older press, which is only equipped with Axis Control. Paul Clifton, co-owner of SPS with business partner Karl Nicholson, explained that the addition of the inline Inpress Control on the new model, versus Axis Control on the older press, was the biggest improvement. “With Axis Control you have to run a hundred or so sheets, take one out, scan it, make the adjustments, while with Inpress, because it’s constantly monitoring inside the press so you’re hitting your targets virtually straight away, whereas with the old press it’s taking a little while longer,” he said. “Having Autoplate as well, so the operator just needs to put the plates in the rack and then the press runs through its cycle and all the plates change simultaneously, means we’ve cut the makereadies on section work to minutes.” Clifton’s business partner Karl Nicholson said: “Technology has moved on. Makereadies on the first XL take about 15 minutes but on this latest press it’s reduced to three to five minutes and every job we throw at it runs at the full 15,000sph.” Clifton added: “We do a lot of small run stuff – the average run on the new XL75 is probably around 5,000 to 10,000 – and makereadies are the biggest time waster. That’s also why we took a 15,000sph machine; we didn’t think the 18,000sph with the short runs we have was worth the extra money – we just wanted to cut down on the makereadies and get the extra automation.” The Leicester-based print business, which employs 28 staff and has a turnover of around £2.8m, installed the new press over the summer, replacing a six-colour Heidelberg SM 74, which has since been sold via a secondhand dealer to a buyer in China. Clifton said it was not a conscious decision to sell the press overseas, adding that there was a good market for non-perfecting presses in Asia. “They don’t like long perfectors, they like straight sixes on the Asian market,” he said. “They don’t want that level of automation and the old 74s have fewer breakdowns without perfectors.” Meanwhile, the added automation on the new XL75 means that the older machine is now running on a single night shift, while the new press is running round the clock. Both presses run with one operator and a shared assistant per shift, which has allowed SPS to reduce its headcount by four. SPS also specified Heidelberg’s FilterStar technology on the new XL 75, which Clifton prolonged the life of the fount solution by up to 50% from four to six weeks, and paid extra for the manufacturer’s Carbon Neutral option, which offsets the carbon produced in the making of the press....
read moreSpectrum slashes makereadies with second XL 75-5+L
SPS specified its new XL75-5+L with Heidelberg’s Inpress Control and Autoplate XL technology, giving a marked reduction in makereadies versus the older press, which is only equipped with Axis Control. Paul Clifton, co-owner of SPS with business partner Karl Nicholson, explained that the addition of the inline Inpress Control on the new model, versus Axis Control on the older press, was the biggest improvement. “With Axis Control you have to run a hundred or so sheets, take one out, scan it, make the adjustments, while with Inpress, because it’s constantly monitoring inside the press so you’re hitting your targets virtually straight away, whereas with the old press it’s taking a little while longer,” he said. “Having Autoplate as well, so the operator just needs to put the plates in the rack and then the press runs through its cycle and all the plates change simultaneously, means we’ve cut the makereadies on section work to minutes.” Clifton’s business partner Karl Nicholson said: “Technology has moved on. Makereadies on the first XL take about 15 minutes but on this latest press it’s reduced to three to five minutes and every job we throw at it runs at the full 15,000sph.” Clifton added: “We do a lot of small run stuff – the average run on the new XL75 is probably around 5,000 to 10,000 – and makereadies are the biggest time waster. That’s also why we took a 15,000sph machine; we didn’t think the 18,000sph with the short runs we have was worth the extra money – we just wanted to cut down on the makereadies and get the extra automation.” The Leicester-based print business, which employs 28 staff and has a turnover of around £2.8m, installed the new press over the summer, replacing a six-colour Heidelberg SM 74, which has since been sold via a secondhand dealer to a buyer in China. Clifton said it was not a conscious decision to sell the press overseas, adding that there was a good market for non-perfecting presses in Asia. “They don’t like long perfectors, they like straight sixes on the Asian market,” he said. “They don’t want that level of automation and the old 74s have fewer breakdowns without perfectors.” Meanwhile, the added automation on the new XL75 means that the older machine is now running on a single night shift, while the new press is running round the clock. Both presses run with one operator and a shared assistant per shift, which has allowed SPS to reduce its headcount by four. SPS also specified Heidelberg’s FilterStar technology on the new XL 75, which Clifton prolonged the life of the fount solution by up to 50% from four to six weeks, and paid extra for the manufacturer’s Carbon Neutral option, which offsets the carbon produced in the making of the press....
read moreFormer print finisher convicted of murder
Carroll, a former laminating machine operator at Mac Print Finishing in Peterborough where he worked for 12 years, strangled his wife of 23 years on the morning of 24 May 2012 at their home in Peterborough. When Mac Print Finishing senior partner Vernon MacFarlane called to find out why he wasn’t at work, Carroll said he thought he had killed his wife. Carroll, who claimed to have snapped due to financial concerns over a £75,000 mortgage debt, denied the murder charge and pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. The jury at the original trial earlier this year failed to reach a verdict; however, the jury at last month’s retrial found Carroll guilty of murder by majority verdict. Detective Inspector Richard Wall said: “Michael Carroll was under a lot of stress due to financial difficulties at the time, however nothing can excuse his actions in killing his loving wife, Elisabeth. “She had overcome cancer and should have been looking forward to enjoying her retirement. This has been an extremely difficult time for Elisabeth’s family and I am pleased they now have justice.” Carroll will be sentenced at a later date....
read moreFormer print finisher convicted of murder
Carroll, a former laminating machine operator at Mac Print Finishing in Peterborough where he worked for 12 years, strangled his wife of 23 years on the morning of 24 May 2012 at their home in Peterborough. When Mac Print Finishing senior partner Vernon MacFarlane called to find out why he wasn’t at work, Carroll said he thought he had killed his wife. Carroll, who claimed to have snapped due to financial concerns over a £75,000 mortgage debt, denied the murder charge and pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. The jury at the original trial earlier this year failed to reach a verdict; however, the jury at last month’s retrial found Carroll guilty of murder by majority verdict. Detective Inspector Richard Wall said: “Michael Carroll was under a lot of stress due to financial difficulties at the time, however nothing can excuse his actions in killing his loving wife, Elisabeth. “She had overcome cancer and should have been looking forward to enjoying her retirement. This has been an extremely difficult time for Elisabeth’s family and I am pleased they now have justice.” Carroll will be sentenced at a later date....
read moreUCI to showcase live Linotype linecasting at London event
The event, on 17 October at the MC Motors venue in Dalston, east London, will include a screening of Linotype: The Film, which UCI helped fund through Kickstarter, and two of UCI’s nine rescued Linotype machines, including an operational C4SM that will be linecasting on the evening. UCI was founded in Dalston by Stanley Wilson in 2007 to manufacture and sell vintage industrial lighting under the Historic Lighting brand; he later embraced historic printing and rescued and restored the UK’s last remaining collection of original Linotype machines. Wilson said: “We own seven Intertype C4s and two C4SMs. Two of the C4s are shot and cannibalised for spare parts but the rest are alive and kicking. The event will consist of a screening of Linotype: The Film and an after-party featuring our pride and joy C4SM, which will be operational and linecasting on the evening. “We’ll also be exhibiting a non-functioning C4 for guests to safely look, touch and generally marvel at. Guests can also eat, drink and create their own souvenir prints from hot metal slugs on the evening.” Original artwork from Print Club London artists will be exhibited and available for sale on the night, alongside vintage industrial lighting creations from Historic Lighting. For more information and to register visit urbancottageindustries.com/party. UCI, which now employs more than 20 staff, is based in a converted former trouser factory in Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire. The company will soon be launching a range of Linotype and letterpress prints of Print Club London artwork via the website urbancottageindustries.com....
read moreUCI to showcase live Linotype linecasting at London event
The event, on 17 October at the MC Motors venue in Dalston, east London, will include a screening of Linotype: The Film, which UCI helped fund through Kickstarter, and two of UCI’s nine rescued Linotype machines, including an operational C4SM that will be linecasting on the evening. UCI was founded in Dalston by Stanley Wilson in 2007 to manufacture and sell vintage industrial lighting under the Historic Lighting brand; he later embraced historic printing and rescued and restored the UK’s last remaining collection of original Linotype machines. Wilson said: “We own seven Intertype C4s and two C4SMs. Two of the C4s are shot and cannibalised for spare parts but the rest are alive and kicking. The event will consist of a screening of Linotype: The Film and an after-party featuring our pride and joy C4SM, which will be operational and linecasting on the evening. “We’ll also be exhibiting a non-functioning C4 for guests to safely look, touch and generally marvel at. Guests can also eat, drink and create their own souvenir prints from hot metal slugs on the evening.” Original artwork from Print Club London artists will be exhibited and available for sale on the night, alongside vintage industrial lighting creations from Historic Lighting. For more information and to register visit urbancottageindustries.com/party. UCI, which now employs more than 20 staff, is based in a converted former trouser factory in Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire. The company will soon be launching a range of Linotype and letterpress prints of Print Club London artwork via the website urbancottageindustries.com....
read moreFosco, Hayes & Hurdley upgrades HP Scitex FB7600 to run orange ink
The new orange ink gives a gamut volume increase of 10%, with a Pantone Colour coverage increase of 6% and corporate colour coverage increase of 7%. Managing director David Nicholas reported that this upgrade has allowed Fosco’s to not only match orange colours with greater accuracy, but “deep burgundies right through to light yellows, light oranges and reds too”. “This is extremely important for our customers who need to match brand colours as closely as possible,” he said. “In the past we tried to hit those colours with CYMK and customers would say ‘that’s acceptable, we understand you can’t get any closer with CYMK’ but now we’ve raised the bar.” He added: “Now work produced on the Scitex matches exactly the work on our Indigo press which has the orange ink, so we can hit brand colours throughout the whole range whether its small format or large format prints.” The orange upgrade is also allowing the company to just generally enhance the vibrancy of prints coming off the FB7600. “We are showing existing customers what we can do now and people are looking at that and are quite amazed. Of course not every job going through the business is orange but the vibrancy is adding to other Pantone colours and images,”,” said Nicholas, adding that this offering has also already won the firm new business. The upgrade has been available worldwide since 1 May and can be applied to the Scitex FB7600 or to Scitex FB7500s that have installed the FB7500 industrial press upgrade kit. This allows two dormant ink beams to be utilised, with a light black ink upgrade also available. Fosco’s is currently in negotiations with HP about adding the light black which, according to HP, creates smoother grey solids and improves neutrality. The company is set on upgrading its other FB7600 to run orange. Fosco’s also benefitted from a speed and quality upgrade as part of this package, enabling the FB7600 to print two and a half times as fast at the same quality. Installing the new ink was relatively straight forward, reported Nicholas, taking three or four days before the press was back up and running. He said: “Being the first printer in Europe to offer this was big for us, as it shows how forward-thinking Fosco’s is in wanting to be out there in front when it comes to pioneering new technologies.”...
read moreFosco, Hayes & Hurdley upgrades HP Scitex FB7600 to run orange ink
The new orange ink gives a gamut volume increase of 10%, with a Pantone Colour coverage increase of 6% and corporate colour coverage increase of 7%. Managing director David Nicholas reported that this upgrade has allowed Fosco’s to not only match orange colours with greater accuracy, but “deep burgundies right through to light yellows, light oranges and reds too”. “This is extremely important for our customers who need to match brand colours as closely as possible,” he said. “In the past we tried to hit those colours with CYMK and customers would say ‘that’s acceptable, we understand you can’t get any closer with CYMK’ but now we’ve raised the bar.” He added: “Now work produced on the Scitex matches exactly the work on our Indigo press which has the orange ink, so we can hit brand colours throughout the whole range whether its small format or large format prints.” The orange upgrade is also allowing the company to just generally enhance the vibrancy of prints coming off the FB7600. “We are showing existing customers what we can do now and people are looking at that and are quite amazed. Of course not every job going through the business is orange but the vibrancy is adding to other Pantone colours and images,”,” said Nicholas, adding that this offering has also already won the firm new business. The upgrade has been available worldwide since 1 May and can be applied to the Scitex FB7600 or to Scitex FB7500s that have installed the FB7500 industrial press upgrade kit. This allows two dormant ink beams to be utilised, with a light black ink upgrade also available. Fosco’s is currently in negotiations with HP about adding the light black which, according to HP, creates smoother grey solids and improves neutrality. The company is set on upgrading its other FB7600 to run orange. Fosco’s also benefitted from a speed and quality upgrade as part of this package, enabling the FB7600 to print two and a half times as fast at the same quality. Installing the new ink was relatively straight forward, reported Nicholas, taking three or four days before the press was back up and running. He said: “Being the first printer in Europe to offer this was big for us, as it shows how forward-thinking Fosco’s is in wanting to be out there in front when it comes to pioneering new technologies.”...
read morePaperlinx reverts to regional sales focus
“We’re moving to a decentralised model. We want to put the customer back at the heart of what we do and devolving power to the branches is the best way to do that,” said Andrew Price, Paperlinx chief executive. Each of the eight branches will be headed by a general manager who, according to Price, “will be totally responsible for that branch and everything goes on within it”. “The people who make the decisions on delivery, pricing, etc will be out in the branches where they will have a better understanding of the customers’ needs. We want to empower the people who are closest to the customer.” Price added that the branches would work within company guidelines, on things like pricing, to ensure that the business doesn’t revert to being in competition with itself. Price added that Paperlinx is currently recruiting the new general managers, who will all report directly to Andy Buxton, managing director of Paperlinx’s Commercial Print division. Last November, the company announced it would centralise account management from its regional offices to its Moulton Park, Northampton head office. The centralised account management team will now be largely disbanded, with staff redistributed across the regional sales offices in Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, Ipswich, Midlands (Moulton Park), Shoreham, Bristol and London. However, Price said that some key corporate and large group accounts, would continue to be managed by head office. “There should be no job losses as a result of this decision, in fact we’re actually creating new roles – which is probably a first for a while,” added Price. The sales strategy U-turn was partly in response to a Paperlinx customer survey. “What the [survey] feedback told us was that customers want to talk to a decision-maker; they don’t want to talk to someone who then has to talk to head office and get approval,” said Price. “The idea is that we will empower branches to make decisions on the spot. The industry has changed, our customers don’t have weeks to turn around jobs, they have hours and we need to make sure we have a business model that supports that.” The winners of the iPad Minis up for grabs in the survey were Miles Barnett, Park Communications; Dave Mann, Newman Thompson; Pennie Harwin, Octoprint; Adrian Smith, Kolorkraft; David Halton, Embassy Press London; and Ian Whitelegg, Prime Impressions....
read moreClays adds further digital firepower
The £71m turnover book printer has bought the Kodak Prosper high-speed inkjet press from failed group MPG’s King’s Lynn site, and is fitting it with a new Timson T-Fold signature folder. The new setup will be integrated with Clays’ existing Muller Martini binding facilities in a near-line configuration. The line will be in addition to Clay’s existing kit, and should be up and running by the end of the year. The Bungay-based firm’s digital arsenal already includes a Prosper 1000 with Muller Martini binding line, a Timson T-Press and T-Book, and two Kodak Digimaster lines for additional short-run flexibility. It also has two standalone HP Indigo presses for covers and jackets. The latest £1m spend takes the digital investment at Clays over the past five years to more than £10m. Clays managing director Kate McFarlan said publisher demand for the inventory management efficiencies made possible via short-run, on-demand production was increasing. “More capacity on the digital front will be welcome,” she said. “We will have the capacity to produce 20m books a year digitally, alongside our conventional production facilities.” McFarlan said Clays was printing a number of major autumn launches, including the new David Walliams children’s book, and a raft of other bestsellers that are yet to hit the shelves. Clays has also gained significant new work from academic and educational publishers following the demise of MPG. St Ives chief executive Patrick Martell highlighted the group’s continuing investment in its printing activities when he announced its year-end results yesterday....
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