Why did you decide to invest in automation? Automation is the way forward – there’s going to be a lot of change in the next ten years. And we want to be in front of that wave, not behind it. We know that in terms of the factory there will be fewer people working for us because we will have replaced people with automation.
What drives the investment in robots? We can implement automation anywhere if it can help us to be more efficient. If we can see a saving and we can get a return on investment we will consider the investment.
Why did you stick with litho? You need a lot of volume for continuous inkjet then when you get to longer runs needed to fill the press you find that of a £1,000 job, £550 is spent on ink while costs for ink and plates on offset you are paying £300. Consequently we think there’s a lot of opportunity for litho in the short run market. The new press takes us into a new area for offset printing where we are able to compete on very short runs and still be profitable.
What is the impact on Micropress? We are also confident that print quality will be better. Printing is going to become more autonomous – but we will still need an operator if only to put the plates into the lift. Automation will be used anywhere we think we can be more efficient, anywhere we can see a saving. If we can get a return on Investment, we will consider it. Why wouldn’t we?
