John Harrison has joined Komori UK to spearhead its growth in digital printing. He will be digital and finishing equipment sales manager, bringing experience in both sectors to the offset press supplier.
Komori installed its first sheetfed inkjet press, the Impremia 29 at Lexon in Newport, South Wales, a year ago and will be installing its first Apressia guillotine in the UK next month. Harrison has joined Komori from HP where he had been in charge of the folding carton segment for Indigo. Prior to that he had been sales manager, converting, for Friedheim, amounting to a 20-year involvement in carton production.
Komori’s portfolio also includes a distribution link up with Highcon, supplying its digital cutting and creasing machinery as a partner to the digital press. “And as time goes on, he will be handling the NX40, derived from the Landa press,” says UK director of sheetfed sales Steve Turner. “And as time goes on there will be a strong focus on finishing kit.”
Heidelberg and Koenig & Bauer can offer platens from their own portfolios, while Heidelberg can also supply its own brand of folder gluers. Komori has announced plans to use its engineering expertise to expand the range of equipment it can offer. This has led to two guillotines, the CT115 and CT137, and more recently has added the Apressia DC105, a die cutting platen for the carton sector. This is a 7,500cph machine that will this year acquire a blanking capability, but not currently available in all regions.
“We have managed to sell the first Apressia guillotine in the UK,” says Turner. “We also have a collaboration with Baumann so can supply fully automated materials handling equipment.”
The inkjet press will be the star of the show. The timing of the appointment suggests that Komori is ready to harvest interest in the technology and the experiences collected from the first reference sites. There is a constant stream of visitors to Komori’s European demonstration centre in Utrecht where an IS29 is partnered with a Highcon Euclid.
“The IS29 is a product that is gathering more and more momentum. It is our busiest press in terms of demonstrations in the showroom. We currently have several strong inquiries from the UK, and can take people to see them in a real production environment.”
Harrison adds: “I’ve seen in the field amazing potential for the Impremia IS29 with its exceptional credentials to print offset quality and offset matching promotional and packaging products. With a colour gamut even wider than offset, the ability to print on just about all paper based and plastic substrates without any need to prime the material along with instant UV drying, it’s opening up whole new marketing options.”
He mentions sampling, POS, proofing, personalised packaging as roles for both commercial and packaging printers.
It will be a busy year for Komori. It is planning a packaging focused open house in Utrecht where a Lithrone GLX640C will be the highlight. At Igas, the exhibition taking place in Tokyo in July, the Komori presentation will focus on a no touch, non stop press that the company sales will undergo a complete makeready in two minutes and will print three jobs inside ten minutes.
Gareth Ward
A year after the first Impremia 29 B2 inkjet press was installed in the UK, Komori UK is gearing up to turn interest in the digital press into sales for the machine. The appointment of John Harrison will also help underline the company’s commitment to the packaging sector.
