Page 13 - Print 21 July-August 2019

Printing People
Press-speed Stahl TH82-P folder changes the game
Southern Colour has long been an unofficial Heidelberg showcase. Two Heidelberg Speedmaster presses – a ten-colour perfector and a six-colour with coater – provide third generation muscle to power production over five 12-hour shifts. Rod Dawson is comfortable in paying tribute to the brand.
“We’ve a good relationship with Heidelberg. They’ve always been there when we needed them. The equipment is as good as it gets. It’s something we just rely on to do its job.”
Latest addition is the first Stahl TH82-P folder in the country, a piece of equipment that solves one of the printing industry’s most intractable bottlenecks. With the presses running at 15,000 impressions per hour, putting sheets through a folder that may run at less than half that speed inevitably produces a backlog. Attempts to speed up the folders have led to increases in waste and spoilage.
The Stahl TH82-P folder has solved the problem by using ‘negative sheet gaps,’ eliminating the space between sheets. The sheets are transported through the entire folding machine in a shingled way allowing it to drive throughput to match
the 15,000 iph of the press without increasing the speed. There is no increase in waste and the bottleneck is completely eliminated.
“It’s made a lot of difference for us,” said Dawson. “One operator on the Stahl TH82-P can match the speed of the press, and we can have jobs out the door quick smart.”
According to Richard Timson, managing director Heidelberg Australia and New Zealand, 140 of the Stahl TH82-P folder have been sold world wide since its release at drupa with many customers buying multiple machines.
“Since we first saw this technology at drupa we understood the potential in the market place. The beauty of the design is the fact that the overall machine speed does not increase, rather the internal shingling does the smart work.
It’s simple maths – no gap with an overlapped shingled sheet equals higher output!
“It has taken us a little bit longer to find the right customer for this type of technology in Australia & New Zealand as there is a reasonable investment required and as the machines are
so high in productivity there needs to be high volumes of standard work. It’s a game changer,“ he said.
“Our partner, Southern Colour, has been terrific and we value the opportunity to
assist them with removing bottlenecks in the production process. Rod is very progressive when it comes to technology. He has to make sure
ROI is met so he did his homework well before committing to the acquisition.”
from the former business that ran into trouble. Part of the problem was that it had become captive
of the print management sector. Printing for print management and brokers may keep the presses turning, the margins are thin.
“We made a conscious effort
to change our model to target corporates directly to bring a better overall mix to our client base. We still deal with print management customers now, but not as many
as back then. Those we deal with now have a true partnership with
us, and we can add value to them and the end customer. I think the print management and supplier relationship model has evolved over the years. We also thrive on the relationship we have with our direct corporates. Being able to assist in solving business problems, rolling out a marketing launch they thought was impossible, gives our entire team a real buzz. We love adding value, and our relaxed professional approach helps build long-term partnerships.”
“We have been with some of these customers for 10-15 years. Having been either nominated and awarded
Supplier of The Year Awards for multiple large national businesses means we have been able to make a real difference,” he says.
Service is part of print
More effort nowadays is directed towards educating and helping customers who may not be familiar with printing. Clients who don’t really know what they want or
how to achieve it present Southern Colour, along with the rest of
the printing industry, with new challenges. It’s a role Dawson eagerly embraces.
“I believe a high level of ‘genuine’ service, not ‘lip’ service, is a really important success indicator in
our businesses. Ask anyone in the commercial print space. Print buyers now are relatively inexperienced compared to previously. They’ve got multiple roles. In the past we’d have a lovely, dedicated, knowledgeable professional. Now we need to hold their hands, give them as much advice as we possibly can in order to get them what they need,” he said.
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