Printers Install Heidelberg Solutions to Expand Their Business Prospects

Two Polar Cutters Keep Pace with Relentless Workload at Print Harmony

Print Harmony is a 100 percent web-based printer to the trade whose business places a premium on high-quality and 24-hour turnaround. The company reports that the installation of two new Polar paper cutters in its Clearwater, FL, location will help the company keep pace with the rising demand for its services and compete effectively with larger trade service providers.

The Polar 115 Xplus and Polar 115 XT machines join four existing Polar cutters in use across Print Harmony’s operation, which also includes a sister plant in Easton, PA. Both facilities are all-Heidelberg shops running multiple half-size and small-format Heidelberg presses, assorted Stahlfolders and versatile KAMA diecutting equipment.

According to General Manager Jake Travis, patented Polar firepower was an absolute must for Print Harmony, given the fact that the company “typically [performs] more than 100 cuts on each of our gang-run, multiple-up, UV-coated sheets containing a mix of postcards, business cards and brochures, etc. We needed reliable, heavy-duty cutters that could stand up to a punishing pace. Polar is our go-to cutter for the type and volume of the work we do.”

Print Harmony’s customers include printers, photographers, graphic designers, mail houses, print brokers, advertising agencies, sign companies, and other resellers of print and direct mail nationwide. The company employs a combined staff of 85 in Florida and Pennsylvania.

“Based on the razor-thin margins that characterize our business, we have to invest in the fastest, most highly automated, most efficient, most reliable equipment available,” Travis said, citing the company’s 30 percent year-to-year growth since its founding in 2002: “Heidelberg technology definitely helps us compete more effectively.”

Winchester Printers Gets More Done in Less Time at Lower Cost with Ricoh Pro C901

While shopping for a new digital press, Winchester Printers (Winchester, VA) set its sights on a machine that would enable the company to get more done more quickly, with less maintenance, lower click charges, and more uptime than its previous machine. Its eventual choice was a Heidelberg-supplied, Ricoh Pro C901 with inline saddlestitcher and color management via Prinect Color Toolbox, which not only lends the company consistent color consistency from job to job, but also puts the operation on a sustainable path in terms of click charges, monthly maintenance and other costs.

“Our overhead used to be a killer; we had to charge so much on longer runs to stay profitable that we couldn’t compete effectively,” said Chris Hottle, vice president. “Are there a few unique applications we used to do that we can’t do now, and are we somewhat limited in terms of substrate thickness? Yes, but those jobs were very few and far between. The difference is more than made up in lower costs and faster job changeovers.