Large-format Printing -- Many Profit Paths
“By adding the new KBA, we have increased our production capability up to 40 percent,” he says. “The faster makereadies and the quality we get with high-speed production from this press are amazing. We have also developed a new market for 64˝ work, mainly in litho labels for corrugated industries.”
The press has also enabled UPBX to run multiple ups on a sheet for folding cartons at a highly competitive price point. Plus, there’s something to be said for running large sheets at a speed of 12,000 sph.
“We’re finishing our jobs in less than half the time. With all the technology, this press has put us into a different category in the printing industry,” Patel remarks.
Capturing Longer Runs
Toronto-based TI Group installed a six-color, 73˝ Roland 900-8 in March of this year. TI has several business units: photography, prepress, 40˝ general commercial and digital large-format. The installation of the 900-8 has certainly spoken to the needs of the printer’s customers.
“We felt we could capture more of the longer-run business that we were losing to the screen market,” notes David Smith, president of TI Group. “The press has enabled us to win more of that business. We can be competitive for longer-run stuff on the digital side.”
Smith prefers not to discuss the markets and products his company addresses, but he did say the results with the Roland model have been exceptional. “Registration, color and makeready have all met or exceeded our initial expectations,” he notes. “We just hired another person to help us penetrate a new market, and we have some good growth happening there. We seem to be upsetting the apple cart, so we must be doing something right.”
Sometimes, the emergence of a new press can turn a company’s world upside down. Take Orange County Container (OCC), a $340 million-a-year package printer, for example. The City of Commerce, CA-based corrugated manufacturer plugged in an eight-color, 56˝ Mitsubishi Diamond 6000LX press with in-line aqueous and UV capabilities earlier this year. In a sense, the company updated its six-color Mitsubishi press that had been bought in 1998. But that’s where the similarities end.
