Pyramid Press has ordered a six-colour B1 RMGT 1050 sheetfed press for installation in November.
It will replace a Speedmaster 102 at the Nottingham business and joins an earlier version of the new machine, a Mitsubishi V3000 that the company installed less than two years ago.
That had been a press used by Central Colour, just three miles away, until its collapse and liquidation. And while an opportune purchase at the time, Pyramid director Paul McGuigan says the Mitsubishi has performed beyond all expectations. When the company had to decide on its next new press, there was no need to run trials or to see one in action. It was a choice between a Speedmaster XL106 and the latest RMGT machine. And point by point, the Japanese press came out on top.
“We looked at it from the total cost of ownership perspective, the technology featured and the benefits we had seen with the Mitsubishi,” he says.
Its experience with the first press has been key.
“We have always been a Heidelberg house but when the opportunity came up to buy the Mitsubishi we knew it was reasonable press and have been really, really impressed with it. We then realised that it was not simply a little faster, but a lot faster than the ageing CD102 we had and the plate changing, four plates switched over in 90 seconds was an eye opener, especially when we have jobs that require 30-40 plate changes.
“The CD102 is an old press that is getting expensive to run in terms of maintenance, it needs IPA which the existing Mitsubishi and the new press do not.”
The new press will also take less power to run than the Heidelberg being replaced. It has an extended delivery unit, double chamber coater, Smart FPC simultaneous plate change and Smart Assist Printing which automates set up and keeps the press in balance. At makeready the press starts to print tabbing the stack when good copies have been reached.
Pyramid also runs a Speedmaster XL75 installed in 2016 along with Stahl folders and Polar guillotines from Heidelberg.
