Northern Ireland printer Oakdene is waiting delivery of what will be the first RMGT 970 press in the UK.
The machine is on the seas, delayed on its way from Japan by storms, and will be an eight-colour press with LED UV curing, the first perfector for the business.
It will be the third RMGT long perfector that the Newtonabbey trade printer has installed in as many years. The first press, a 920 with LED UV was purchased in June 2022 with a second press coming a year later. The order for this larger format machine was confirmed at Drupa and it will replace both the original machines.
It includes automated plate changing and closed loop registration and ink density controls, increasing Oakdene’s ability to meet demand for fast turnaround work for digital printers and established litho printers across the region.
“The expanded format will give us added flexibility, opening the door to more work from the B1 sector,” says Jamie McMullan. “The perfecting solution means that we will immediately slash makeready times.
“Anything that can take non productive time out of the day is an important issue for me and the team. Many of the advanced features of this press will aid the press operator and aid fast set up. We are only too aware of the universal skills shortage across the UK and Eire, so anything that makes our press minders’ job a bit easier is always welcomed.”
He explains that Oakdene has twin customer bases. One is the army of small digital printers that farm longer run work out as the cost of the click charge bites. Oakdene can exploit the instant trying of LED UV to provide a next day delivery to these companies. The second tranche of customers comes from established offset printers with ageing presses and who are unwilling to take on new machines and new levels of debit. Instead many have switched from offset to digital and use Oakdene for longer runs.
Oakdene has also faced these issues, says McMullan as when he took over decisions needed to be made. “Offset won the day for me, but it won because the guys at RMGT showed me how an offset litho press needed to look in the 2020s and beyond – a very reliable, SRA1 format machine, with a B2 footprint, delivering dry prints at a more than respectable speed. This combination would provide the Oakdene business with the answer to the question that all the digital printers were asking: how can I produce print volume at a sensible unit cost?
“Having graduated to a second SRA1 RMGT press just one year after the first, we are now at the point where a perfecting press makes real sense for us and our customers.”
The experience of the reliability of the RMGT gave McMullan the confidence to switch from two to a single press, particularly in Northern Ireland where shipping spares can sometimes be an issue.
