Walsh Colour Print is renewing its fleet of Komori sheetfed presses, signing a $6 million deal for three machines including the eight-unit Lithrone GLX-840 RP perfector.
This machine prints on the underside of the sheet on the first units before being printing on the top side in a more conventional manner. The advantage comes with moving the sheet through the press without tumbling the paper and using only a single set of grippers, reducing the paper required and cutting the risk of misregister.
The company will also take a five-unit Lithrone GL540 in the coming months and a five-unit GL529 when the new B2 press becomes available in the new year. All are equipped with Komori’s H-UV drying technology making this the largest single order in Europe for the instant drying system.
The order was not entirely expected, says Komori UK and Ireland sales director Steve Turner. The Castleisland company had been expected to renew its machines in the course of the next year, but accelerated this on seeing the performance of the eight-unit press in particular with two-minute-15-second makereadies, including a change of stock.
“This is a genuine show order,” says Turner. “Tony Walsh came to the show and brought forward investment plans by 12 months based on what he saw here.”
Walsh Colour Print is Ireland’s largest trade printer with an eight-unit B1 and ten-colour B2 long perfector as well as other B2 machines dating between 1999 and 2006.
The new presses will bring a big boost to capacity. The GL840RP includes asynchronous automatic plate loading, parallel washing of blankets and pre-inking for the next job, during the plate change. This accounts for the rapid makeready. The press will run at 18,000sph.
Both B1 machines will be fitted with cameras to check and adjust register and colour and will spot other print defects. The five colour machine comes with a coater to enable the business to offer added values effects inline with print including different varnish effects, including drip off. It will also print on any type of material, leaving it completely dry in the delivery.
The exact specification of the third press in the package has still to be decided, but will include a coater and five printing units.
The installation will not be the first in Ireland with H-UV, as that honour falls to Anglo Printers with a five-colour plus coater B2 Komori. “It is now starting to get going in the Republic of Ireland,” says Turner, “where we hope to repeat the success we have had in the UK.”
The first press to be installed will be the eight-colour machine as soon as site preparations are completed. The five-colour B1 will follow ahead of the GL529 in the early part of next year.
Walsh Colour Print is renewing its line up of Komoris, choosing to add LED UV on each of the three presses it is buying. These include the eight-unit RP perfector and five unit plus coater B1 and B2 presses.
