Productivity has gone through the roof at Centurion Print with the installation of its new Komori press.
Centurion Print's Pat Leitch has just overseen the installation of the fifth Komori press to arrive at the plant during his tenure, but it was not a case of just sticking with what was familiar when it came time to purchase the latest machine.
In fact, the six-colour Komori 640 with coater that has now been up and running at the company's Morningside premises for several weeks was the end product of one and a half years of thorough research into what press would best suit the company's needs.
"We looked at a number of different options over 18 months before settling on this one," Leitch says. "With this level of investment, it is never a decision you make lightly. It's a matter of asking for various vendors to come forward with their best proposal and then making sure you choose the one that fits you best."
Leitch says that each printer's needs are different and purchasing presses occurs on a "horses for courses" basis. With Centurion's client base and philosophy revolving around high quality colour print, it was important that they find a press that matched that ethos.
"It just suited us," Leitch says of the new press. "This is our fifth Komori, so we're not strangers to these machines. The operators understand them; we as business operators understand them, but we certainly never excluded the other vendors from the race. As I say, it was a very thorough selection process."
The combination of reliability, print quality and ease of use were all important factors in the final decision. While price is always an important consideration, Leitch adds that the pricing was fairly similar from all of the press vendors.
Centurion made several trips to Australia to see demonstrations of the presses in action and were impressed with the results being achieved on the Komori machines. With Centurion's focus on quality output, the ability of the machine to produce outstanding work is critical.
"We think that the Komori produces a sharper dot than the others, and we do a lot of high-end agency work and those types of customers are always looking for something a little bit extra. If we can offer them that through superior quality then so much the better."
While the addition of the coater is also capable of delivering that little something extra for a demanding client, it was for more practical reasons that Centurion elected to buy a press with inline coating.
"The main purpose for us was speed. Certainly we are able to sell it as an embellishment, but mainly it's about a quick turnaround. It's a tight market out there and it's getting tighter every day. It's no longer just the A3 boys that have to be quick."
Another asset when it comes to speed is the quick makeready that the new Komori is able to deliver, down to just a few minutes before the press is turning out its first saleable sheets.
In addition to the speed and quality, Leitch says that both personal experience and the testimonials of other Komori owners had convinced him that the machine's reliability was the pick of the bunch as well.
"Reliability is a key factor for us," he says. "Knowing other Komori owners as well, it's clear that what we spend on maintenance on the Komoris compared to other brands, means the ongoing costs are very low. That's one of their main features - they don't break down often. All machines break down sometime, but Komoris certainly don't break down often."
Having invested in a total of five Komori presses, but subsequently on-selling two of them following upgrades, Centurion now has a powerhouse pressroom featuring three highly spec'd presses: two A2 and one A1 machine.
But with the addition of the highly productive new press, to go alongside another high productivity six-colour Komori installed last year, Leitch estimates the company will now have the potential to produce 30-40 per cent more work than it was previously able to churn out.
"It will certainly be a challenge to keep it fed, but that is a necessary part of business. We won't be taking on any new sales reps; we expect much of the growth will come from within our existing client base. Once word gets out there, I'm sure we will see an increase in the amount of work coming in."
There will be no issues in prepress or postpress in keeping up with the additional work. A highly productive computer to plate setup producing 30 A1 plates an hour willl see to the front end, while Leitch says the company's in-house finishing may stretch to an extra shift if needs be.
However, with Centurion already achieving a makeready time of six minutes on the new Komori press, Leitch expects it will keep the rest of the production process on its toes.
"It's a much improved makeready. With the fully automated plate changing, we have noticed a world of difference. The printers love it."
While Centurion, like most printers in today's marketplace see business as steady, if not the most buoyant market of recent times, they believe that keeping a high standard of work and offering customers the best possible quality are keys to ensuring that their business can thrive.
