Heavy metal is still earning its keep out there, as a new Komori comes on stream at Hero Print. Handled locally by the team at Ferrostaal, the brand new five-colour Green Lithrone press takes the pressure off the Sydney factory’s flagship ten-colour Komori and powers up its super-reflexes for lightning fast turnarounds.
The Komori GL-540 with coater went in over Christmas and was commissioned in the shortest possible time. Alex Coulson, Hero Print manager, tells Print21 it was a race to get the new press on the ground, as the work was pushing the site closer and closer to total capacity.
“We were running as many shifts as we could, and it was still getting really tough. I suppose we knew there was help around the corner,” says Coulson.
“We’re loving the GL-540 with coater for the protection is gives us. We’ve got the A1 ten-colour in Sydney too and it just eats up work. The new five-colour is ideal for more bespoke products, work that needs a little more love maybe. The aqueous coater was a big selling point, for our covers, high-end glossy work but it also offers that extra protection.”
Coulson adds that installation of the new press was a dream. The Komori GL-540 with coater has been up and running for over two months without a hitch, and is already picking up new work for the business.
The press runs an inline aqueous coater and boasts high production turnarounds built on Komori’s ‘offset on demand’ philosophy. According to Rayne Simpson, general manager Ferrostaal ANZ, this moves the focus from straight speed onto job turnaround speed, a crucial edge with current run lengths and volumes.
“It has all the latest features. Hero Print are a pretty quick turnaround printer, so it’s a perfect fit for them. Komori’s offset on demand technology can bring make-readies down to as little as 20 sheets. It memorises different substrates and automatically feeds that information back into the press to optimise turnaround times,” says Simpson.
Ferrostaal ANZ now has nine Komori Green Lithrones installed in the region, and that figure is steadily creeping up. Hero Print’s GL-540 with coater was the fourth to touch down in Australia.