This forum looks like the perfect place to start. I'm not a pressroom, but the guy on the other end in the mailroom. I'm a postpress supervisor for Detroit Media Partnership looking for ways like everyone else of trying to generate more work while saving costs. We run 4 NP630's and 1 NP632 inserting machines on 3 shifts. We insert large volumes of Sunday home delivery along with nightly single copy runs. We have quite a bit of custom jobs that we insert such as single sheets that are one sided and two sided print. My question is, these single sheet inserts are printed by outside printers for the advertisers. I know nothing about the printing end but heard that Komori does a great job for this type of work. What Komori press should I be looking at? Are these available used? Should I look at 2 color or 4 color? Some of our single sheet inserts are 1 sided with just 1 color and some are 2 sided colored car and pizza ads etc. Any input would help. Thanks in advance.

Hi Charlie & welcome to the forum...

We've run Komoris for years now and find that for anything from a business card to brochures, posters and flyers they are the most reliable and versatile of presses. First off, what run lengths do you envisage, what proportion of work will be full (four) colour?

To give you an example we do anything from a 100 sheet run to 250,000! And we don't care whether it's 1, 2 four or 6 color. We have a 6 color Lithrone 626 with automated perfecting so we can even configure for 2/4, 2/2 or 1/4 print.

Run speeds of 13000 to 15000iph are the norm on high volume flyer work.

Then there's the superfast makeready - eg fourcolour, from plateup (semi auto) to press pass we allow around 10mins.

Second user presses are the way to go, IMO (unless you have a big budget) and it is a buyers market right now.

Get back to me with the information and i'll give you a pointer as to which press configuration would suit your company.

And no I don't get commission from Komori!

Hi,

You should also look at Heidelberg presses, being a much more popular press than Komori and able to fulfill your needs just as well.

PM 46 for a B3 paper size printing 1 or 2 colours e.g 2up A4 flyers.

SM 52 for a B3 paper size printing anything from 2 to 10 colours, 1 or 2 sides. e.g 2up A4 flyers single side.

SM 74 for a B2 paper size printing anything from 2 to 12 colours, 1 or 2 sides. e.g 4up A4 flyers single side.

Regards.

Can't disagree that there are more Heidelbergs out there than Komoris - but details like diamond coated grippers that outlive the life of the press (barring accidents) and triple race taper bearings for the impression, blanket and plate cylinders are major assets to a printing presses longevity and printability.

Vibration levels are also very low, due to the robust double unit sideframe design, incorporated since the very 1st Lithrone around 1984 - ensuring good solids

The Komori is noted for fine dot repeatability and low dot gain compared to other presses in its sector, even Heidelberg.

I would look at...

Lithrone L420 for B3 2up A4 4 col

Lithrone L426 for 4up A4 4 col

Two colour presses are fairly limiting for quick turnround of four colour work. Needing wash ups after each pair of colours have been printed.

BTW...L stands for Lithrone Series, the first digit is the number of print units, the second pair is the sheet width in inches.

You get remote inking/registration/dampening console with each one making for fast makeready and recording of job settings.

But you don't have to listen to me - talk to other users of both machines, see them in situ if possible and then talk to the pressmen.

Hey Meny (another Komori user) tell Charlie here what you think about your Komori!!

Richard and Mr.H, I can't thank you enough for your quick responses. I'll take this information along with the printing presses mentioned and talk with our pressroom guru's. I'll get back with you. Thanks again.

mrheidelberg,

I just need to clarify. Is the SM52 or SM74 a perfecting press that does printing on both sides? Does it sound like one or both of these presses would meet our needs? I've been trying to educate myself the last week on what presses we should be looking at. Again, we insert on the average 800,000 single inserts per week. Most with full color on both sides. It would be nice to keep some of this work in house and make this company some money. Also, approximately how much would one of the mentioned Heidelberg press cost new? Could we find a good deal on the secondary market for a Heidelberg with low impressions? Say 2 to 3 years old.
Richardk, thank you for your input, we have'nt ruled Komori out. We just need to be sure right from the start.
Thanks again.

Perfectors these days tend to be fully automated for the changeover (ours is a 2001 press with 73mil imps Komori 626) We use it every week in perfect, the changeover is a one button & 3mins either way. The limitation with most perfector presses is the ink repellent, coated jackets on the impression cylinders - they are more appropriate for uncoated stock, you may if you use art papers and have a heavily inked side 1, get marking on the subsequent cylinders.

However you are looking at 800K approx per week, I assume that is around the A4 size. If so a standard B1//40" press would chew this up in a 200k run over 14 - 16hrs including makeready. So unless you have mega dollars to spend I'd check out the latest Komori Lithrone - and if you're buying new - you can probably swing a great deal at present.

BTW our 2001 Komori is batting along as we speak at 14,000iph!

Good luck with your press hunt.