Northern Ireland printer Priory Press Packaging has installed a six-colour B2 Lithrone, replacing an older version of the same press, but although the format and the supplier are the same, it is a very different press.
The machine includes the full array of Komori’s automation suite which will boost efficiency of the business and cope with the company’s organic growth. That requirements accounts for 90% of the reason to invest. The other 10% of the investment is reflected in Komori’s PDF Comparator system to check the integrity of the file signed off at prepress with that printed on the machine. It will allow the Newtownards business to tackle pharmaceutical packaging.
“We are making a statement of intent,” says managing director Mark McConville. “We have held off the decision because of the uncertainty around Brexit because the majority of our business is exported to the south. Once we knew that there would be no hard border we decided to go ahead.”
The specification was decided from the company’s track record in producing food packaging. This requires adherence to BRC standards of quality and hygiene. “We take our quality assurance very very seriously and we use BRC as the management tool it was intended to be, helping us to self improve and build in quality assurance from start to finish.
“Our quality assurance consultant suggested that we should look at the pharmaceutical cartons market.” That, says McConville, is where the company can add a revenue stream. The biopharma sector in Ireland is growing quickly, even before Covid-19 and many large producers want an alternative supplier to the main international groups that produce the majority of their packaging requirement. Priory Press packaging can become that alternative, McConville believes. “We are aware of the stringent requirements of the sector so we are under no illusions about the challenge,” he says.
First the company wants to exploit the makeready automation that is part of the press. Makeready is fully automated, checking register and adjusting colour and then scanning to ensure the press stays in colour. It generates a report which combined with a report from press and from a new carton gluing line that the company is investigating currently, will be an audit of a complete job for a customer.
It has also automated aspects of prepress production with installation of a PackX system from Hybrid Software. Training on this has just finished, he says.
The big change is on the press. A 55in monitor allows two sheets to be shown side by side, the digital PDF version and the scanned sheet, with the software picking out the vital areas that need checking, barcodes and ingredient lists, for example.
“We have already started to see efficiencies from installation of the press, and though operators are used to the Komori, there has been a learning curve. They have to learn to let go and let the numbers run the press. It is about learning to trust the technology.”
