Heidelberg Speedmaster CD 74-5 leads company into five-year plan

Melbourne based Hampton Press is a medium sized commercial printer producing catalogues, booklets and brochures for a range of Government departments, business to business clients, and graphic design agencies.

As part of the company’s business plan for the next five years, it was determined to upgrade to a five-colour press, hence their decision to install a Heidelberg Speedmaster CD 74-5 colour press (SM CD74-5) in March this year.


Pictured from left to right, Jeff Mallinson, Sales Manager, Paul Batty, Printer, Tony Hampton, Hampton Press Director.

Tony Hampton, owner explains that in addition to increasing press capacity, this decision was as a result of growing market demand for a fifth colour or varnish finish, as well as escalating requests for varying stock weights.

“We were using a four colour press with a second pass to print five colour work and as a result sacrificed productivity. To address this issue, and take us into the next five to ten years, we were looking for a press that would offer us the versatility to take on the broad range of jobs demanded by our customers.”

Tony says the ability to now complete a job in one pass has resulted in massive improvements in both productivity and the quality of work produced. “As there are no registration issues, as can arise with a second pass, we are now producing work of a far superior standard.”

“These quality improvements have allowed us to access a bigger slice of the lucrative high quality commercial print market. A recent coup was the production of a 10,000 run of a five colour 52-page catalogue, plus cover. This would not have been economical to produce on the four colour press whereas the SM CD74-5 seamlessly produced the material.”

The SM CD74-5 features automated make-ready and easy-to-control sheet travel, which enables printing on a broad range of media spanning flimsy papers to stiff board. The press is managed using the CP2000 Centre, which controls and stores all settings enabling faster production of repeat jobs.

The inking, dampening and temperature control systems of the SM CD74-5 have further boosted the consistent quality of output.

The installation of the SM CD74-5 was a ‘turnkey’ installation in which all the technical aspects of the installation were managed by Heidelberg and Hampton Press was able to start production from day one.

“The ability to have all aspects of the installation externally managed has ensured a minimum of disruption which is invaluable to a high-production operation such as ours,” says Tony.

“Versatility has long been a key characteristic of the work we produce. The installation of the SM CD74-5 has ensured that we are able to offer a wider range of printed materials to a broader client base which will secure our future for the next five to ten years,” he concludes.