Advice Needed On Switching From Offset To Digital

Discussion in 'Printing Business Practices' started by JPP, Nov 10, 2015.

  1. JPP

    JPP New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 2015
    Messages:
    1
    Location:
    N.Ireland
    Hi Folks,

    In need of some advice regarding switching to a digital press or to stick with offset. We are currently running a 1990 Komori 28 Sprint 2 colour press and as you may of guessed we just cant keep up with the competition in speed or quailty. As were a smaller print buisness more demand is for short runs which just isnt affordable on our komori.

    What I would like to no is what sort if any digital press would suit us best. Our monthly volume is in the region of 80,000 full colour A3 sheets minimum and can raise upwards of 300,000 A3 sheets, Sometimes full colour or Black & White.

    We are a charity who print mostly in house material which would include books, newsletters, flyers,posters, cards etc. Printing on 80gsm up to 350gsm. Some months we dont have alot to print and others months were printing in excess of 300,000 A3 sheets. We would also be expanding the amount of out of house work we would take on so quailty print and realibilty is a must.

    My question is, would a digital press suit us? and if so which ones, currently looked into HP Indigo 3550 and Xerox Versant 2100, but decided we wanted an unbiased opinion and im sure there is a lot more quialty presses out there apart from these 2. We are thinking of upgrading our collator from a Duplo DC10000S and booklet maker Duplo DBM 250 but as we understand the digital press can have a booklet maker attached as an extra, would these attachments be robust enough for say 5000 A4 34page booklet?

    Any advice is much appreciated and thank you in advance.
     
  2. GCurtiss

    GCurtiss Member

    Joined:
    Feb 2016
    Messages:
    5
    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    Hi JPP,
    Based on your message you should have no problem transitioning to a digital press. Volumes and media weights should be fine on Xerox 2100, Ricoh 7110/9100, Konica Minolta 1100. Your volume may not support the HP Indigo. There are pro's and con's to each of these systems although Ricoh does offer some very unique features like a max 700mm sheet length.
    Pay attention to output speeds since the rated speed may not be for all media weights (many machines slow down dramatically on heavier stocks).

    All of the above machines offer in-line booklet makers that work just fine but you need to pay attention to the number of flats that each is capable of and what the impact of a heavier cover sheet will be. Another thing to consider is that your current Duplo system does not care where the sheets were created. If you switch to an in-line booklet maker you will need to give some thought as to how you will do this. A possible solution is an on-line/off-line booklet maker system like the Ricoh/Plockmatic 350. It can be used in-line or pulled away from the printer and hand loaded regardless of which device printed the document. Good luck.
     
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