The Precision Printing Company Ltd, Barking, the multi-award winning business offering creative print solutions produced with state-of-the-art technology, has today announced details regarding its latest litho investment: an order for two LED-UV equipped RMGT (Ryobi) SRA1 format presses, and two Cron CtP systems, all purchased from Apex Digital Graphics, Hemel Hempstead.
Leading the line-up is the RMGT 928P: an eight-colour convertible perfecting press for 8-up A4 format print production. Two LED-UV curing units are incorporated into this configuration – one situated over the perfecting device and the other at the delivery end of the machine, enabling one-pass instant curing perfecting. The press will also be equipped with Smart-RPC fully automatic simultaneous plate changing, dramatically reducing make-ready times for job changes. PQS inline printing quality control enables the operator to monitor printing quality on both sides of the printed sheet. Supporting this press will be a RMGT 925 – a five-colour straight press also equipped with LED-UV curing and an inline spectrophotometer.
Plate production for the new presses will be provided by two Cron 36-64GX UV-P units, with a combined capability of producing over 80 SRA1 plates per hour. The systems will be imaging onto Cron’s Blackwood UV plates.
Group Chief Operating Officer of Precision Printing, Andy Skarpellis, commenting on the decision to purchase RMGT litho equipment, said: “The SRA1 platform appealed to us greatly – the format still allows us produce 8-up A4 pages but without the additional expense or space requirements of B1 presses. In addition to that we believe that Ryobi’s LED-UV technology is one step up from other hybrid technologies on the market – Ryobi were pioneers in the market, and still seem to have the edge over the competition. The Cron platemaking products complete a very competitive and quality focused package.”
Adding further comment, Chief Executive Officer, Gary Peeling, said: “If we are going to have successful offset business we won’t do it by doing the same thing we have done for the last twenty years, so we are going new and modern and looking forward to the opportunities greatly.”
“We are working hard to make using more printing simple for our customers. LED-UV allows us to produce wonderful looking results on uncoated substrates, which are increasingly popular. To compete, printing needs to be fast and simple. It is often the difference between printing or not from the customer perspective. This modern press technology allows that.”
“Having visited the RMGT factory, we were incredibly impressed by the quality of the engineering that goes into the presses. These are very well designed and built machines. We looked in detail at Ryobi and at other suppliers equipment before making our final decision. Ryobi offered the most competitive solution as well as products that just had the technical edge over other presses that we looked at – the automatic plate changing, for example, will load a new set of eight plates on the 928P in less than two minutes,” said Andy Skarpellis.
The new presses will be installed at the company’s Barking site, and are replacing three existing Heidelberg B2 format machines: a 4-colour Speedmaster; a 6-colour CD; and a 10-colour perfector.
When talking about the work to be produced on the new equipment Andy Skarpellis referenced both hybrid digital/litho work and the trade work generated by the company’s WhereTheTradeBuys.co.uk website: “The output quality of the Ryobi machines is excellent of course, and with the LED-UV feature we can produce a finish to match our Indigo digital output, allowing us to produce combination litho/digital print products for customers. This means that we can combine personalised sections within long run publications at an economical price.
“For our trade printing business, the new equipment means that we will be able to offer same day delivery for volume offset print orders into London, or overnight delivery, even if they are produced on uncoated stock – something that we could only do with short run digital requirements before.”
Gary Peeling added: “Our London location is an advantage in supporting the capital, but it comes at a cost – a problem that Tokyo printers share! These presses are compact and the UV drying also removes all “work in progress” from the shopfloor. We could print 500 runs and deliver today digitally; now we can offer 50,000 as well.”
Commenting on the order for Apex Digital Graphics, Neil Handforth, Sales & Marketing Director for the company, said: “We are of course delighted to be working with one of the UK’s leading technology focused printers. They were quick to appreciate and understand the benefits of Ryobi’s market leading LED-UV technology and were already focused on the cost savings offered by our SRA1 products. This combination of the eight and five colour presses will provide a powerful litho package for the work being produced by Precision Printing.”
RMGT’s increasingly popular 920 Series features a maximum paper size of 920 x 640 mm, enabling the eight-up printing of A4 size pages, as well as A1 size posters. The versatility of the press extends to stock thickness, with the 920 Series being capable of handling paper ranging from 0.04 mm onion-skin to heavy 0.6 mm card stock.
The LED-UV curing system was pioneered by Ryobi, with the company unveiling its first such product at Drupa in 2008. Developments in ink technology and manufacture have now caught up with the huge potential offered by LED-based UV drying equipment. LED-UV ink is now available from a host of major ink suppliers. This year is seeing a growing commercial acceptance of LED-UV in the UK, where it will follow Japan and a number of European countries. The environmental benefits of the technology and the significant cost savings through reduced power consumption are the two outstanding benefits of the equipment. Adding LED-UV also eliminates the need for powder spray, and removes ozone from the process, with the required ducting for extraction – another significant cost element. The stunning productivity and quality of the technique are self-evident when the system is viewed in action.
Precision Printing is privately owned and was established in 1966, sales in 2016 are forecast at £23 million. Precision provides marketing print solutions for brands and automated print on demand solutions for photo, card and other consumer print products for leading online brands and apps. Precision is based over two locations, East London which employs 130 staff and Sunderland which employs 26 staff with offset equipment and an extensive HP Indigo installation.
Precision Printing is proud to have been supplying some of the UK most successful companies with their printing needs for over 50 years. This includes the likes of American Express, Atkins, Lambert Smith Hampton, Nestle, Jaguar Land Rover UK, Boden, Laura Ashley, Sainsbury’s, Bett Homes, Durham University, Emirates Durham International Cricket Club, Sunderland Football Club, Bandai Namco Group, NHS, Subway and Sega.
For further details on Precision Printing see http://www.precisionprinting.co.uk and https://www.wherethetradebuys.co.uk or call 033 0024 6001.
Apex Digital Graphics Limited is a specialist in the supply and service of pre-press and press equipment. Apex is the official UK distributor for the RMGT range of printing presses through to SRA1 format and Cron metal-based platesetters. Apex also distributes the Konica Minolta range of digital printing equipment. The company offers national service coverage, and a one-stop shop for print consumables featuring next day delivery. Apex Digital Graphics can be contacted on 01442 235 236 or via the www.apexdigital.co.uk web site.
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