Small- and Medium-format Sheetfed Presses -- Automated Workhors
The press was a veteran quarterback at that, nearly 20 years old. So Hasson and his brothers decided it was time for a change in philosophy.
"We had let the half-size sheetfed market get away from us," Hasson explains. "We weren't really paying attention to that marketplace. We thought we knew it because we were in it years ago. (The half-size press) was that press in the corner we had to use every now and then for our good customers. Then we started to look at it in terms of, hey, there's a lot of business out there that fits our half-size press. Let's not be too arrogant—that we're just a 40˝ shop."
Fidelity Printing turned its half-size philosophy from necessary evil to marketable asset. The printer tapped MAN Roland for the 23 x 29˝ 300 series, which complemented the 700 series and its 40˝ work. Installed in January 2002 and running full bore by March, the press has allowed Fidelity to increase its sales by 30 percent.
Fidelity Printing has unleashed a marketing blitz to tout its reborn capabilities, highlighted by an open house last October that drew 200 of the leading designers and purchasing agents from the Tampa Bay market. "It was well received by the design community," Hasson says. "They understand how simple it is in terms of proofing issues on the press, and how seamless it is now."
Hasson notes that the productivity of the 300 has more than doubled capacity. According to one production report, Fidelity Press did 13 makereadies and 47,000 impressions in nine hours, which would have taken three shifts on the old half-size model.
"We had time constraints with our 20-year-old press, where we physically couldn't get the jobs done in a day," Hasson says. "We knew we'd be more efficient with the 300—that it would run faster and makeready faster. We just didn't realize it would be as efficient. Part of that is the PECOM (press control) software. We're very pleasantly surprised at its efficiency and performance.
