Tradeprint will install its first continuous feed inkjet press in the new year. The trade printer has chosen a Canon ProStream 3133, its flagship high quality press, along with what will be the first Tecnau Revolution 50 AutoSetup Stack 5251L finishing line in the UK. This will be run as a near line set up rather than inline with the press.
“We have been looking at continuous inkjet for a number of years,” says operations director Rod Scrimgeour. “When we put in the second Canon iX3200 we thought about continuous at that juncture, but I feel that would have been premature and we didn’t have the volumes of the right work to enable it to run efficiently.”
That has changed as a gap has opened up between the short run capacity of its SRA3 inkjet presses and B1 litho. Tradeprint is now handling a lot more short run multi section jobs which suit the continuous feed inkjet press better than the cut sheet alternative.
“We are attracting more perfect bound work and producing a 240pp book on the iX machines takes time,” he says. “The continuous feed press is 4.7 times faster on this sort of work.”
The company has also noted an increase in wire bound, stitched and magazine products that suit the ability to produce sequenced blocks ready for further finishing. Scrimgeour continues: “We are experiencing a lot of growth in that category and intend to double down on this. We have sufficient binding capacity, print was the hindrance.”
The line will also produce cut and pack jobs, simple products with reduced handing because of the automation in the Tecnau finishing line. That automation means moving from one product type to another with a different cutting pattern without waste, something that the automation on the new finishing line can cope with. The interface between Canon and Tecnau is also well proven and a similar set up has been shown at recent open houses in Poing.
The wider Cimpress group is also investing in the combination of equipment at other sites. While Canon is a preferred supplier, there are other continuous inkjet suppliers across the group and Scrimgeour was able to choose the best for the Dundee company.
Across the group there are a number of inkjet presses, some with Tecnau equipment, though with less automation. Tradeprint will be able to draw on this experience to shorten its learning curve and to help train its operators.
A key learning point will come with scheduling work, selecting jobs to best match the machines it has and batching jobs on the Canon to minimise any need to change reels, which can be time consuming and wasteful. When bedded in properly, the continuous inkjet will be able to switch from job to job with zero makeready.
This is the first time that Tradeprint will be handling paper on reels. It intends to run with just six or seven paper types to minimise the need to change reels by being able to schedule enough jobs to fill a reel before starting to run. This inexperience is one reason for running reel to reel and keeping print and finishing separate. “Running inline would introduce an additional layer of complexity we don’t need,” says Scrimgeour.
Another is the sheer size of an integrated line: that would be a 36-metre line from start to stack making it a challenge to accommodate. As it is while the area for the press is already set aside, other equipment will need to be moved for the Tecnau. It makes no sense to do this during the busy season until the end of the year he points out.
