Moving Offset Printing In-House

I'm from a company in Canada and am looking to buy an offset press, I need some advice as I am quite inexperienced with offset presses. We are looking to buy either a heidelberg or komori 6 color press, with UV lamps.

What sort of costs should be considered?? (maintenance, parts)

How should we decide on the size of the press, the number of colors on press, etc.

What year should we buy?? Should we buy as old as possible, or is that a regretable decision.

We are also looking for a consultant to help us buy equipment, PM me for details.

 

Here are a few quick things -

-Availability of parts needs to be considered with any used equipment. It is hard to get parts sometimes for older machines, even if they run well.
-How well the press runs can be relative to how well it was maintained. A 5 year old press that was trashed, or a 10 year old that was precisely maintained, would create different scenarios, right?
-Make sure you have foundational support in your building for the press as well as necessary utilities.
- Size of the press and number of colors is relative to what you want to print. What kind of items will you be printing? What color needs will there be? Need to take that in to consideration.
- At the very least, you will have regular costs in your "consumables" (or items that need regular replacement on press, such as blankets, grease, feeder items, etc...)
- Costs can be dependent on staff also. An experienced operator might cost more to employ, but run less waste and make fewer mistakes (not always, but is a possibility) If the press will be learned from scratch, count on "learning costs"
- Parts are a tough one. Hard to predict which parts you will need and the costs, since they can range from moderate to very expensive pricing.
- Maintenance time needs to be accounted for if you plan on keeping a well maintained machine. Time is money, and how much time is going to be devoted to maintenance will need to be determined. At the very least, it is good to calculate how much time is needed to follow the Manufacturers reccomendations to lubricate the press.

Wish I could give more specifics, but really we can't give you any hard numbers, only questions and issues to think of along the way, since every shop is different. Hope this helps!

-K

 

I am a printing consultant / used equipment consultant.
35 years in this industry that we all love.
Call me, the assistance you are looking for is what I do everyday.
Doug @ 563-249-3252

 

HELLO..I TRIED TO PM YOU MATE..I HAVE WORKED AS A PRINT+FINISHING ENGINEER IN THE UK FOR 21 YEARS.. THE TYPE AND SIZE OF MACHINERY YOU MAY NEED WILL DEPEND ON MANY FACTORS eg - FACTORY SPACE/ACCESS, POWER SUPPLY LIMITS, TYPE OF WORK YOU DO(SHEET SIZE,COLOURS,COATING,JOB SIZES), OPERATOR PREFERENCE OF PRESSES, LOCATION OF ENGINEERS FOR SERVICE/MAINTENANCE, FUNDS AVAILABLE TO BUY..
HAVE YOU PREVIOUSLY PURCHASED MACHINERY/PRESSES AND HAVE A PREFERENCE? TO BE HONEST I PERSONALLY PREFER HEIDELBERG ANY DAY FOR BUILD QUALITY AND PARTS AVAILABILITY.MY SECOND CHOICE WOULD BE EITHER KBA WHICH ARE SLOWLY BECOMING POPULAR OR KOMORI (KOMORI PARTS CAN BE HARDER TO GET AS THEY SOMETIMES HAVE TO BE BACK-ORDERED FROM JAPAN WHICH CAN TAKE PRECIOUS TIME)..I DONT RATE ROLAND ,MITSUBISHI,MILLER OR RYOBI..
IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR B2 SIZE THE SM72(1990s CPTRONIC) IS A CRACKING WELL MADE PRESS AND ARE AVAILABLE FROM 2-6 COLOURS PLUS COATING. THE NEWER SM74 IS ALSO A FANTASTIC PRESS TOO BUT HAVE A LITTLE MORE AUTOMATION FEATURES..
IF YOU RE LOOKING AT B1 THEN THE SM102 IS A TRIED AND TESTED WORKHORSE WHICH IS STILL PRODUCED BY HEIDELBERG TODAY.THESE ARE AVAILABLE FROM 2-12 COLOURS PLUS COATING..
THE MAIN PROBLEM IS SOURCING A GOOD PRESS.YOU CAN FIND OLDER ONES WHICH HAVE BEEN LOOKED AFTER THAT ARE BETTER THAN SOME NEWER PRESSES.ALWAYS BUY ON CONDITION.IMPRESSION COUNTS MEAN NOTHING UNLESS THE PRESS HAS BEEN MAINTAINED WELL.MANY PRINTERS JUST FIX WHEN BROKEN AND DONT THINK ABOUT PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE.
ALSO MAKE SURE THE PRESS IS DISMANTLED PROPERLY,WIRING BAGGED TO PROTECT,ANTI-RUSTED AND SHRINKWRAPPED,SAFELY LOADED AND SECURED IF SHIPPED IN CONTAINERS.
THERE ARE STILL SOME GOOD USED MACHINES OUT THERE..JUST BE CAREFUL(BUY ONCE-BUY A DECENT ONE).THE LAST THING YOU WANT IS BUYING A PRESS THEN HAVE TO SPEND THOUSANDS ON GETTING IT IN PRODUCTION..YOU ARE BETTER JUST PAYING THAT LITTLE MORE TO GET THE BEST PRESS YOU CAN IF POSSIBLE.
MOST OF THE NEWEST PRESSES ARE FULL OF COMPLICATED ELECTRONICS WHICH ARE OK WHEN THEY WORK BUT CAN BE STUPIDLY EXPENSIVE TO REPLACE..I HAVE SEEN A OK PRINTER SPEND £40000 ON CIRCUIT BOARDS WHICH CAN COST £2k + EACH!!
DO YOU HAVE ANY LOCAL PRINTERS WHO CAN LET YOU HAVE A LOOK A SOME OF THEIR PRESSES WHILE RUNNING SO YOU CAN GET SOME PRINTER FEEDBACK TOO..IF YOU NEED ANY FURTHER HELP OR COME TO ANY DECISIONS FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME MATE AND WILL GIVE YOU SOME HONEST ADVICE AND CAN ALSO SOURCE/DISMANTLE/TRANSPORT/STORE/CONTAINERISE AND SHIP ANY MACHINERY WORLDWIDE..BEST REGARDS..PAUL..

 

It is nice to buy new printing equipment, however you have to figure out a good way to pay for it without pulling yourself under. Older equipment seems to do well, and you must plan on repairs as needed. You will need to find a good repair tech which you can rely on. Unfortunately repairs fall when you don't need them, keep that in mind. Our shop usually buys older equipment and we get the manuals for them. We also contact the techs and stay in touch with them all the time.(even when we don't have repairs) Good communications go a long way. Baby older machines and do maintenence on them regularly, even if you just have 5 minutes here and there. it pays for itself in the long run!