Allied Printing Services Adds Three Xeikon 9800 Digital Web Presses

Jon Kaufman, SVP, technical development, stands next to one of Allied Printing Services' new Xeikon 9800 digital presses.

MANCHESTER, Conn. - November 14, 2017 - Allied Printing Services has made yet another significant investment in its future by adding three digital web presses. These rollfed digital presses have added to Allied’s capacity exponentially. With this new addition to its existing fleet of 10 sheetfed digital presses, Allied can now offer larger format sizes with full personalization (variable data print).

Allied’s senior management team first embarked on a wide evaluation of the different digital web technologies available in the marketplace several years ago. Ultimately, Allied chose to partner with Xeikon.

“Xeikon’s 9800 series is the perfect fit for our customers for several reasons,” says John Sommers, president and CEO of Allied. "These machines offer high-quality color reproduction consistent with our current offset and digital presses. In addition to the quality consistency, we liked the versatility of the presses with respect to paper stocks/substrates.”

Click here or on the image above to watch Printing Impressions interview with John Sommers on Allied Printing's three new digital web printing presses.

Allied’s new digital web presses can run any untreated web rolls from 27# offset all the way up to 130# coated cover stock. “Many of the other options in the marketplace are limited to a pre-treated paper that has a special coating for inkjet, and so paper options and availability are very limited," notes Jon Kaufman, SVP of technical development. "That simply would not work in our environment. Many of our customers require fast turnarounds on specific paper stocks, and we need to be able to react quickly to satisfy those demands. The vertical format and self-contained environment also allow for a much smaller footprint compared to the inkjet offerings.”

Allied chose to use off-line finishing to support the output from its new Xeikon presses. Sommers comments, "Our greatest asset is our 80,000-sq.-ft. bindery. By going from roll-to-sheet on our digital webs like we do with our offset web presses, we’re able to diecut, trim, perforate, fold, stitch, perfect-bind, laminate, or insert into an envelope with ease. At the same time, we’re able to merge variable digitally printed components with offset components in an efficient manner which drives cost savings to our customers."

Chris Gouveia, SVP of operations, also adds, "We have already seen the impact these digital webs are having on our business. The variable cutoff that goes up to 29˝ gives us the ability to customize the way that we produce each project/format depending on the needs of our customers.”

Jim Morse, who is Allied’s director of digital solutions, was also very involved in this project from its inception. Commenting on the new Xeikon presses, Morse said, "I was able to see the value that these presses would offer, as they strategically tie together many of the areas in which Allied is strong. These presses are supporting the growth we have had specifically in the variable data, personalization, and direct mail areas of our business. With this investment, our capacity more than doubled in these areas! We are now turning large-scale personalized match-mailings in a fraction of the time that it took before, and are poised for even more growth."

Source: Allied Printing Services.

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