Most print is still produced on offset presses, but the market size seems to have reached a plateau, with many predicting a gradual decline in volumes. At the same time, margins have become depressed, which means that offset printers are now working for less, and many are running unsustainable businesses.

The major offset press manufacturers have had a torrid few years as orders vanished following the onset of the global financial crisis and the internet. Heidelberg had to be rescued from bankruptcy by the German government, manroland hit the wall, KBA is about to lay off another 25 per cent of its staff, Ryobi and Mitsubishi have had to merge, while Shinohara and Akiyama both went broke and were acquired by Chinese interests.

Trade printers have risen to the fore, with many print business owners preferring to use them rather than invest in new offset presses. And even if they wanted to buy a new press they are sometimes unable, as banks seem to have bolted the cash drawer for the industry.

So what is in it for sheetfed or digital SMEs these days? How do they make a profit?

Kathy Farren-Price, a partner in BB Print, a 23-year-old commercial print and design company serving Mackay and the Bowen Basin in central Queensland, has more than 25 years’ experience in printing. In 2011, as a long-term employee of BB Print, she took over from Roy Brunke in a partnership opposite the other founding partner Gary Bye (the two B’s in the name).

The company provides offset printing on a Heidelberg Speedmaster 52 and other litho presses, digital printing on a Konica Minolta bizhub, with finishing, and graphic design.

BB Print is on the go. The 20-staff operation recently moved to an 800sqm facility on the outskirts of Mackay, planning to take on more tender work based on its increased capacity and to diversify from mining and sugar, the cyclical staples in the region.

“All of our presses are pretty much at full capacity,” says Farren-Price.

The company’s business case for updating its offset kit is fairly straightforward, she reflects. “We turn over our machinery to keep up-to-date with technology but apart from our usual changeover, winning contracts would encourage us to update sooner.”

BB Print offers perfecting for long-run work such as books. At the other end of the spectrum is short-run, quick turnaround work that is printed digitally.

She says, “We have updated our pressroom with digital, which has led to another source of short-run jobs that we were not competitive with in offset.” But the company has not gone into larger format POS work, she notes.

Down south, inline aqueous coating on a five-colour Ryobi 925 has significantly boosted productivity at Melbourne’s PMS Lithography, says owner Theo Prosenica. The 925, from Australian agency Cyber, has replaced a Ryobi 725 and shares the pressroom with a recently acquired four-colour KBA Rapida 162A.

At PMS Lithography, offset printing is used for a variety of products such as software boxes, POS displays, posters, brochures, cube displays and hanging mobiles.

Prosenica explains the efficiencies of inline coating during the print run. Rapid drying on the five-colour jobs means they are immediately ready for a second pass. “On multiple makereadies each day, that adds up to important time and cost savings in the long term. Switching from four-over-four perfecting (8-page) to eight-over-eight (16-page) has also added to efficiencies,” he says.

PMS Lithography’s casual wages costs have shrunk, averaging 30 hours less per month. On latest figures in mid-2014, ten casuals are still used, in addition to a permanent staff of 24. Overtime has dropped by around half and the company now makes do without a third shift.

The job mix has also changed, with an increased quotient of magazine printing added to the core package printing, thanks to the 925, and POS work done on the KBA 162A and Arizona GT350 flatbed, Prosenica tells ProPrint.

Vendors have their say

Richard Timson, managing director of Heidelberg ANZ, says the latest technology places businesses in pole position. “In today’s competitive marketplace, those who are working with the latest technology are in the prime position to take advantage of market trends and capitalise on the uplift in productivity and throughput that working with new technology delivers.

“Greater automation and faster running speeds deliver more jobs through a press every day. This increased volume capability enables customers to adjust their pricing to fill the press at a combination of high-profit and lower-profit work.”

Hannapack, Colorpak and a Melbourne commercial printer all signed orders for new B1 multi-colour manroland 706 sheetfed presses. All are existing manroland press users, but the orders are nonetheless a shot in the arm for manroland sheetfed, which spent a month in administration 18 months ago before being bought by a UK industrialist.

Steve Dunwell, managing director of manroland Australia says, “These three printers are all blue chip print businesses who recognise the need to invest in the premier automated printing presses to stay ahead. The latest generation of manroland presses are so advanced they enable printers to achieve a significant increase in productivity.”

All three printers have ordered the R706 press, with various additional specifications. The Hannapack R706 is an 18,000sph press, the other two are 17,000sph presses. All three presses are due to be installed at the start of next year.

Dave Lewis, general manager KBA Australasia’s sheetfed division, is a fan of consolidation in the pressroom. He says, “One business model is replacing older presses, and sometimes several of them, with a state-of-the-art modern press with quicker makeready and running speeds. The cost reductions in moving to fewer but more productive machines can be huge.”

Rayne Simpson, general manager of Ferrostaal ANZ, believes the most important discussion point with customers is efficiency gains through Komori’s Offset on Demand philosophy, which he summarises as super-fast makereadies and productivity; minimising waste down to 20 sheets, with savings in paper costs, power, consumables, labour, and allowing more press time. It also includes speed to market, reducing the time from order to delivery and invoicing and being able to print, bind and deliver immediately – possible with Komori’s H-UV instant drying technology, replacing multiple presses with one or two, and high quality.

“Offset prints the highest quality and can compete with digital down to runs as low as 200 sheets, however it offers a lot more, such as A2 size, high speeds for longer runs, and the ability to print on different substrates,” he says.

Greg Knight, general manager, (Vic and Tas) of Cyber, says offset “remains a cost effective method of printing, even when producing short-run work. In recent times, the cost of plates has reduced significantly, eliminating one of the strong arguments digital held over offset. The amount of sheets required and the time taken for makeready has also decreased. Added to this is the ability to print dry-to-dry on a variety of papers, boards or plastics via cost effective UV systems.”

Asked about the prevalence of outsourcing to trade printers, Heidelberg’s Timson says, “The risk is always present that someone will see the work and think it might be worth going direct to the end client. And there are issues in quality control and outsourcing that need to be factored. But trade printers provide a service for other printers who perhaps do not have the funds or expertise to take on the work directly.”

For KBA’s Lewis, the solution is to equip print providers with the most productive inhouse capability. “The only way is ultra-fast makeready presses designed for short runs and which of course have to be competitively priced.”

How do vendors partner with print providers to introduce them to profitable niche markets? According to Timson, “Commercial printers generally take niche markets and destroy them by cutting the price, so while we look to help our customers find industries or processes to improve their bottom line, we ultimately cannot influence their pricing policies or actions. Digital and wide format printing are good examples of the recent influx and price discounting.”

KBA’s Lewis is upbeat. “If a customer wants to move into another type of work, we have the experience to help and guide them,” he says.

Ferrostaal’s Simpson says, “We work closely, trialling, testing and sharing information with our customers. It is important to note that with Komori’s revolutionary Offset on Demand and H-UV technology offering our industry something new, different and efficient, we as an industry can promote to the wider communication world that print is here to stay and can certainly challenge any other communication medium out there.”

Scott makes multi-million dollar offset investment

Perth’s Scott Print is investing in two new Komori multi-unit presses, so it can continue its business growth and stay at the forefront of printing technology.

The Perth firm, which won an astounding 38 medals at the 2013 WA Printing Industries Craftsmanship Awards and has a history of heavy investment in new technology, is buying two Komori Lithrone presses – an A1 GL840-P HUV eight-colour long perfector and A2 LS629 HUV six-colour plus coater – and will install them by mid-year.

Tim Scott, general manager at the family-owned operation, who placed #26 on ProPrint’s 2013 Power 50, is banking on the investment, the largest Australian buy in Komori’s history, enabling the company to remain the leading print provider in WA.

He says, “These presses will come at an optimum time for our business, allowing us to upgrade our current presses to state-of-the-art technology and gain greater efficiencies in the press room.

“They are the perfect fit for us, now and in the future. They offer us a balance of efficiency and quality, whilst providing game changing improvements.

“Scotts has always invested strongly in technology and gone through cycles of heavy capital investment, this is just another one of such investments – all ensuring we continue to offer clients the best possible print partner.”

Scott points to business growth and expansion into new areas as other reasons why new presses were necessary.

“We are steadily continuing to grow our market share and continue to diversify into other areas of communications. This investment is to allow us to have the capacity to service our growing client base,” he says.

Tim and his cousin John took the reins at Scott Print last year from their fathers Dudley and Michael.

Ferrostaal ANZ general manager Rayne Simpson says this is the biggest purchase of its type in many years and he is looking forward to working with Scott Print to launch Komori’s new HUV presses in WA.

Simpson says the HUV versions with their instant drying inks now make up 75 per cent of Komori’s sales.

He says, “These feature laden presses are the highest spec Komori GL Series machines, and provide printers with synchronous plate changing systems which change all eight plates in less than 45 seconds; KHS-AI, Komori’s short makeready system which gets to complete make ready in just 20 sheets, and Komori’s PQA-S monitoring system which controls print density and checks every sheet print quality.

“Scott Print has a reputation as a printer of quality and progress, the new Komori presses will enable the company to build on this reputation.”

Costs down, output up at WA’s Picton Press

At Picton Press, a top-tier commercial print operation in West Perth, a new KBA Rapida 106 ten-colour perfector, the first of its kind in the commercial print market in Australia, is a clear sign of the 27-year-old company’s confidence in the future of offset printing.