Color Copier Drives Six-color Press Purchase
The demand for four-color work has jumped considerably at South Dakota State University—from 3 percent of the in-plant’s volume up to 22 percent.
“A good share of that has been driven by the color copier,” remarks Dennis Lundgren, printing production manager, referring to his Xerox 250.
With only a pair of two-color presses available to take on this color work, the 14-employee shop had been doing a lot of outsourcing. That all changed in March when the Brookings-based in-plant added a six-color, 22x28˝ Akiyama press with a coater. To save money and time on the front end, the in-plant also replaced its imagesetter with a Fuji computer-to-plate system.
But why a six-color and not a four-color? And why Akiyama, which is not exactly a common choice among in-plants? Serendipity certainly played a role, Lundgren acknowledges.
Back when he was still contemplating a four-color press, Lundgren says a former employee paid a visit.
“He said, ‘you’ve got to get a five-color, at least,’ ” Lundgren recalls. The reason? The school’s PMS 287 blue was not buildable from four colors.
“It’s very important to be able to run that 287 blue as a spot color,” he notes.
Then, while touring another print shop to see its CTP system, his staff was impressed by that printer’s six-color Akiyama. It had fewer transfer points than the Heidelbergs they had seen (three transfer cylinders, one per unit), so paper stayed more flat, without a lot of tight bends.
“We eliminated a lot of registration problems by going to the Akiyama press,” Lundgren says. Since Akiyama presses do not come in five-color configurations, he says, the shop went with a six. Computerized color control and automated ink fountain settings make the press easy to work with, he says, and job settings can be stored and recalled the next time a job is printed.
Prior to the press and CTP purchases, color jobs like field manuals and magazines were being farmed out. That’s all changing now.
“We’re going to be able to bring these things back in-house,” Lundgren says.
Another plus: The new equipment gave him an opportunity to reorganize the in-plant for a better workflow.
- Companies:
- Akiyama International Corporation (USA)
Bob has served as editor of In-plant Impressions since October of 1994. Prior to that he served for three years as managing editor of Printing Impressions, a commercial printing publication. Mr. Neubauer is very active in the U.S. in-plant industry. He attends all the major in-plant conferences and has visited more than 180 in-plant operations around the world. He has given presentations to numerous in-plant groups in the U.S., Canada and Australia, including the Association of College and University Printers and the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association. He also coordinates the annual In-Print contest, co-sponsored by IPMA and In-plant Impressions.
