PrintEx 07 saw Pressnet exhibiting for the first time and the sale of a Sakurai 466 press during the show. This, says Pressnet’s Charlie Scandrett, is further indication that Sakurai is back on the market in Australia with the right machines at the right time.
Since his company acquired the agency for Sakurai Graphic Systems in Australia in September 2005, Scandrett says the brand has become firmly established on the market as a highly productive, viable and robust solution to competitive offset press brands on the market.
Scandrett says rebuilding the brand name which had been dormant in the Australian market for some time has been hard work, as Australians are sceptical and prefer names they are familiar with.
However, with the sale of seven new Sakurai presses in just 21 months and customers expressing their satisfaction with the quality of the technology and strong support from both local and factory-based engineers, Scandrett says Sakurai is in Australia for the long term.
Nine Australian engineers including Scandrett have been trained by Sakurai at their factory in Gifu, Japan.
A number of Sakurai customers and potential customers from Australia have also visited the Gifu factory and, says Scandrett, have come away very impressed not only with the machines, but also with the people and the company culture.
The unique family company culture of Sakurai has resulted in a unique and dedicated workforce and Sakurai remains very much a family company, with the third generation, represented by president Ryuta Sakurai, having taken over at the helm of the business in 2006 from the legendary Yoshikuni Sakurai.
Both Ryuta and Yoshikuni Sakurai are frequent travellers and enjoy meeting their customers in every corner of the globe. This has helped to ensure that customer needs and requirements are embodied in new press designs.
Last year, Sakurai celebrated 60 years of press manufacture and launched its new robotic frame and base line at Gifu, which has doubled the company's press manufacturing capacity.
"Most Aussie blokes look under the bonnet before they buy a car," says Scandrett. "It should be the same with printing presses.
"Sakurai are confident their engineering will stand out when printers make this vital assessment."
Visitors to the Pressnet stand at PrintEx were able to 'lift the bonnet' on the Sakurai 466SI, which Scandrett has dubbed the 'little big press' on account of its sheet size to price matrix.
Whilst the 466SI prints an A2 sheet, Scandrett says it is priced at the level of a 52cm machine. The makeready time is the same as for a 52cm press, as is the minimum sheet size, adds Scandrett who was proud to announce the sale of the model being demonstrated to Dave and Lyn Popple of Printzone and Gympie Graphics, Qld.
Pressnet ran two video presentations on the stand, one highlighting the launch of the new Sakurai A1 press, the 496, and the other showcasing its special MMT imaging technology.
The 496 will be launched at IGAS in September and, says Scandrett, is priced at just over $2m for a 10-colour perfector or around $1.1m for a straight five-colour.
The double diameter 960x640mm press should create new opportunities for medium size printers, adds Scandrett.
Its unique size suits almost all full sheet jobs and reduces the cost of press, blankets and plates.
Sakurai's 96 series was developed based on the succes of its medium-sized SD series first released in 2003, incorporating a high level of automation as standard.
Reflecting the market requirement for lower skill levels on the part of press operators, sheet size and impression presetting (SAS), SPC (Sakurai plate changing), automatic blanket washing and automatic ink roller washing are standard devices on the Sakurai 496SD.
Sakurai's colour console type III with quick stand-by enables both suitable formulation of ink film on the roller and uniform management from preparing to printing whilst the ink roller temperature control system regulates the temperature of the ink roller surface to keep ink viscosity constant for sharper dots at high speed.
The standard ink temperature control, double diameter impression cylinder and
7 o'clock cylinder configuration ensures a sharp, unmarked, stable printing image from 60 to 600gsm.
Scandrett is very proud of the strength of construction of Sakurai presses. "This brand is the only one with a six-colour press which can be lifted in a single piece by crane," he says.
He invites comparison of the heavy duty frame, bed and gear construction, heavy duty lubrication system, robust and easily serviceable PLC control system, strong and precise lever and fulcrum and zero-backlash ink keys of Sakurai presses with those of other brands. The latter in particular solves the perennial sticking and accuracy problems associated with ink keys, adds Scandrett.
"Full computer electronic control with PCs and PLCs is the modern way to build machines," continues Scandrett.
"Programmable logic controllers are small industrial computers which are over 300 per cent more reliable than the older PCB (printed circuit board) technology."
Top gear
"Elastrohydrodynamic (EHD) lubrication is the highest standard of gear protection available to engineering science," continues Scandrett. "At Pressnet, we simply call it 'surfing on oil'. It can only be achieved continuously by high-volume oil flood lubrication which Sakurai uses exclusively on all of their presses."
"New cars always look great on the showroom floor, but we all know what is under the bonnet is what matters in a few years time. At Pressnet, we are conscious of our long term reputation which is why we insist on PLC control and 'surfing on oil' for all our imported equipment," Scandrett concludes.
Sakurai Presses sold by Pressnet
| Precision Print |
Busselton WA |
Sakurai 566SI |
| Hollands Printing Solutions | Darwin | Sakurai 466SIP |
| Harvey Print Group | Melbourne | Sakurai 566SD |
| Printzone | Sunshine Coast |
Sakurai 466SI |
| UniPrint |
Perth | Sakurai 458SIP |
| Undisclosed | Brisbane | Sakurai 575SD |
| Undisclosed | Melbourne | Sakurai 566SI |
“Pressnet is frantically trying to finish over 100 proposals for machinery from the PrintEx show: please be patient.” - Charlie Scandrett
