Heidelberg has reported that printing company 2×2 has installed a complete solution encompassing a five-colour press, software, cutting machine and folding machine for postpress.
At the moment, 2×2’s orders come from different market segments, including advertising agencies. Its catchment area extends beyond the city limits of Blagoveshchensk into the regions of Amur and Primorsky.
The package includes Russia’s first Speedmaster CX 75 five-colour press with coating unit, Prinect Production Manager workflow software, a Polar N 92 cutting machine and Stahlfolder Ti 52 folding machine for postpress. The company’s intention with this substantial investment is to further expand its market position and strengthen its competencies.
‘Our current production facility is on the outskirts of the city’, said printing company boss Ivan Semashko. ‘The new machines mean we can offer our customers a faster service – now we can print a run of ten thousand copies and deliver it to the customer the same day – something that used to take us four days. With the highly automated production process, we are fully prepared for the latest market requirements. Local printing customers had to order items in other regions and even abroad. We can now supply those for them in the Amur region.’
2×2 has purchased the Prinect Production Manager workflow software as a subscription model. It is a cloud-based subscription package, for which Heidelberg charges a monthly usage-dependent fee. This is the latest business model recently launched by Heidelberg. The Prinect Production Manager provides the resources for setting up an integrated workflow covering all the steps involved in the production process, and is an ideal solution for establishing a Smart Print Shop.
The newly installed machines have enabled 2×2 to increase its productivity. ‘We have reduced makeready times significantly. Before we printed three jobs a day, now we can print eight and more,’ explained planning engineer Alexander Ogorodnikov. ‘On the Speedmaster CX 75, the ink feeding is controlled via Prinect Easy Control. This saves us time and also reduces waste since we only need 100 sheets for job changes instead of 400. Customers are much happier now.’
The Speedmaster CX 75 is suitable for many different printed products. It processes very light papers as well as heavy cardboard with a thickness of up to 0.6 millimetres. Since its presentation at China Print in Beijing in 2017, this machine has proven itself worldwide with more than 300 printing units sold. The Russian printing market is currently in a difficult situation, both because of the economic environment and the growth of the print industry. Demand for offset printing presses has decreased compared with previous periods, yet despite this, Heidelberg CIS – Heidelberg’s Russian sales company – has managed to hold its own and is a leader in the market. Sales of the Versafire digital printing system are also growing nicely, reflecting its use by Russian printing companies to expand their portfolios and optimise production processes.
Heidelberg Graphic Systems SA (Pty) Ltd +27 (0) 86 142 4756 http://www.heidelberg.com/za
