SOS ramps up productivity with new Speedmaster XL

In its biggest offset press investment to date Sydney outfit SOS Print + Media has installed a Heidelberg Speedmaster XL long perfector, and says it has more than doubled the productivity of its previous Speedmaster.

Michael Schulz, director at SOS, says the 10-colour Speedmaster XL 105 is reaching new production heights at the Alexandria factory. The machine spits out 18,000 sheets per hour at maximum speed, with five over five perfecting and a sheet size of 750mm by 1050mm.

Schulz tells AP, “The Speedmaster XL 105 is so much more productive than what we had before, and it gives us the benefits we need regarding makereadies and handling heavy paper.

“It is at least twice as productive, if not more. We are realising that when we do duplex jobs, on cardboard, and so on; we run jobs now in half the time.”

The company’s previous Speedmaster was shifted out and the new beast installed in the space of a month; Schulz says it is now up and running as scheduled, staff have been trained and customers notified.

Offset still makes up the lion’s share of the company’s turnover, with the Speedmaster XL leading the charge; though Schulz says it is not a large majority, with digital more than earning its keep in certain sections of the business.

Sharing quarters with the Speedmaster is an Akiyama JPrint 10-colour press, a Heidelberg GTO-Z two-colour press and, on the digital side, a Fuji Xerox 2800 webfed colour inkjet printer, a webfed Kodak Prosper 1000 XL, webfed Xeikon 5000 with coater, sheetfed HP Indigo 7500, and two sheetfed Ricoh Pro printers – the C901 and C900.

Schulz says, “We have so many jobs that require different machinery to get the best results; that is why we have a massive equipment list. Some jobs are good on the Indigo, some are better on a press, some come out well on the inkjet. You need to have the right horse for the right course.

“We do have quite a range. Most of the time that is a blessing, sometimes it’s a bit of a pain because there are so many vendors.

“At this point the majority of our turnover is still from offset. We have a lot of life in that offset factory. Digital is growing, it’s getting into more areas, but it’s not replacing offset – yet – and won’t for a while.”

As it continues to compete in a crowded market, Schulz says SOS will focus on relationship-building to secure its position in the future, and offer a gamut of services as well as putting ink to paper.

He says, “In a very competitive market we try to find solutions for clients that allow us to establish close relationships with them. Ideally that would include that range of production equipment and also IT services and distribution and warehousing.”

 

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