SM74 4 color versatility on paper and board

My friend
Ehgineers are the type of people that push technology forward by using imagination - very important.
Some times the imagination is very good , but some time not so much...
You can find the same in any field in life.

Any way , it is hard to get a SM 72V today , but possible , yet due to the high demand and short availabillity , it can cost like a 102 or more.

I will send you a current option by e-mail

Good luck

 

getting some sm 72 v options for a straight presses but that too old 1984 and 1985 and my heart and mind is not ready to go for such an older models
will wait now for some time till some opportunity be there at a reasonable price or i will become comfortable to spend more money for late models
thanx sukesh

 

No reply yet to this particular one !?

I have gone through the entire thread pages as I found the opinions and experiences of fellow members quiet interesting and true too for the most part.

There is a reason why huge number of people in India and world over swear by Heidelberg presses even today. Here in India there is a popular belief "Grandfather buys it grandson/s (still) run it". I have myself seen such presses (KORS for eg.) running well even today and producing whatever best possible they can, married with CTP technology ofcourse

Anyways, the point was that Heidelberg has definitely been ahead of the curve for the past many decades and today too. The only smart and serious competition business wise recently is by Komori due to their smarter pricing and better brand value in terms of Japanese presses. (although I personally wish to own and run a Sakurai some day which are respected by many master printers in India). Only serious competitor to Heidelberg (arguably again) is KBA, who produce IMHO the best in class sheetfed in wide and ultra wide sheetfed format.

Best to think of MAN Roland as some wicked cool presses in web, not to underrate their sheetfeds especially the likes of 200 series and such.

If? Heidelberg use lighter material and smaller design due to more advancements in CAD-CAM software and competitive market requirements, it surely doesnt make them bad presses at all. World over from cars to most other technology the trend is to use advanced lighter material (metallurgy) and technology for various practical reasons one of them being cost of course. IMHO, thinking that a company like Heidelberg would cut costs at the cost of compromising performance is definitely un-surmisable to put it mildly. It is a company I like to believe built on the some excellent philosophy and of building presses "second to none". Their presses designs and manufacturing are 'Works of an Art Form" to be more poetic and overly articulate as well

They still build CD (cardboard diameter) presses highest in the lineup for a reason and their later and latest machines in all categories are trying to achieve max speed@best possible quality as apparently that matters the most to some serious buyers or big production houses/presses.

SM72 undoubtedly offers good value for money today as well and are still a good bet for people who know the presses and its inherent faults albeit minor if taken care of. If you can find good service mechanics/engineers the later modeled KBAs are best to run light weight to heavy stock. They wont fail you. But if you want to be very safe stick to Heidelberg as there are many non-company mechanics in India who can fix most of the problems faced by the presses.

For what it's worth my personal preference list orderwise is :
1) KBA or Heidelberg (hard to choose between at similar price points for used presses)
2) Sakurai (good print results, great built quality, but not available used in abundance)
3) Adast Dominants/Pollys (near closed co. BTW, best for paper lwc or coated art, quick to setup in manual versions as well)
4) Man Roland (lately nice touch of double diameter in size 52cm with full 15x20 feed size, also compact in size)
5) Komori (be carefull and stick to Lithrone if you want to survive in Indian competition)

 

we again back to the crossroads.
It was the point of discussion prabhu whether sm74 will do the same vs sm72
you told about the inherit problem with the sm72 what was that problem.
I have already got sm72-2 color machine 1992 model.
could u explain why people still consider sm72 is better than sm74?
what are the shortcomings of sm72 and sm74
will be thankful to u if u explain

 

Inherent problems..

What I meant by inherent problems (of all older used machines) is the older electronics, older design (more required waste sheets), lack of CIP connectivity etc and possible downtime if you need critical spares and service support in remote areas. I firmly believe that presses like SM74 generation are being sold so quickly because a huge no. of presses are being liquidated due to foreclosures or bank auctions or other reasons like upgrades to higher and faster presses.
It is very subjective buying SM72 or SM74. For the cost of used SM74 you could probably buy 2 of 72s with CPC1.02

If quick turnaround and high speed combined with CIP automation is needed for your profile of jobs look at SM74 else SM72 is still good enough in most cases if you find one in good maintained order. Do you have long run or short run or multiple mixed jobs involving lots of plate changeovers ? Then automation like Autoplate, blanket wash etc. may be your best bet. Also if you see return on investment in short term, you need to have good customers who are willing to pay slight premium, but markets by and large are very competitive as you may know well.

Run extensive trials on the machine you want to buy. Buy a machine in running condition and in production, dont even look at dismantled ones (in dock or warehouses) unless you know what to look for from a dealer's or mechanic's perspective. Go for SM74 (pay premium) only if you think it will attract more business. On a brighter side due to machine age factor it could fetch you more resale too, incase you need to upgrade later.

I am not a machines dealer, still PM me your phone contact, I will gladly help you further in this regard.

Happy Printing!

 

Never done Much Heidelberg work but what i will say is the Sm 72's where built like tanks, they where built to last with a very good roller power, from what i hear the 74's arnt built as strong but of course have a huge ammount of automation compaired to the 72's. both good machines but you have to consider your budget and what you need, if you dont need autoplate buy a 72, if your setup is currently taking to long and the quality is not very good you need a 74

 

hi prabhu
my no. is 9815000749 and based in Ludhiana (Punjab)
need to increase my knowledge before I go for betting 1 or 1.5 crore on a machine.

 

my work is more of packaging and lesser of commercials but still 30-40% work is commercial I came to know that sm74s only suitable for commercial jobs only and CD model is suitable for both that is why I created this thread i.e. varsatiltiy of sm74 on paper and board

 

hi prabhu u havenot yet gave me your mobile no. so that I should call you and discuss about buying a SM72 or SM74
pls sms your no. at my mobile no. 09815000749

 

contact

call me on sms no. sent to you...