Swallowtail Print in two for one press swap for increased output

Print Solutions

This autumn Swallowtail Print will trade out two five colour and coat presses, a Speedmaster XL 105 and an XL 75, in favour of a Push to Stop version Speedmaster XL 106-5+L and it sees the potential for a 20 to 40% increase in overall output.

Swallowtail Print director James Baxter admits he was sceptical when the idea was presented to him by Heidelberg but he reviewed figures from companies who had invested in Push To Stop technology and visited Elle Media and he was converted.

Push to Stop is about enabling a press to work at its optimum, increasing its overall equipment efficiency. By benchmarking press performance and analysing results Heidelberg has been able to optimise the automation, producing a press that has to be reined in rather than pushed on by the operator. In combination with Pressroom Manager, data collected at the press can also enable a company to discover where production time is lost and why, enabling them to optimise the whole workflow process.

‘I was sceptical about whether we could work with one press and achieve any increase in output but our research has been convincing. Our two presses combined have been producing about 50 million impressions a year. With the new press we believe we could output 60 million comfortably and even 70 million if we needed to in the future,’ said James.

‘Everything is focused on minimising maker ready, for instance the ability to change plates and clean the press simultaneously. We will have Intellistart, Inpress Control 2, Autoplate XL 2, Inkline and Pressroom Manager. We will reduce each make ready by an average of five minutes over our existing technology and we will reduce waste sheets by about 100 sheets per job.’

‘With Pressroom Manager we will be able to see which papers perform best on press and which jobs are most profitable. We can identify downtime and the reasons for it and address any issue, such as late plates to press. Then we can get these things right together,’ added James.

‘We handle a wide range of work on stocks from 80 g/m2 gloss to 0.8 mil board. Having one press will make our choice of impositions and paginations more focused and we will look to do more batching of jobs and streamline the flow of work wherever we can.’

He concedes that it would have been impossible to rely on one press with previous generation technology but he is confident Heidelberg produces the best machines and that the Speedmaster XL 106 Push to Stop press is the best press they produce.

Alongside the new press, the company has also added a Muller Martini Primera saddlestitcher.