Printing Department owner Michael Liley told ProPrint that the A3 machine, set to be installed next week, was selected to fit between the company’s established offset operations and its expanding digital business.
The Artarmon-based company’s offset plant includes a six-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster CD 74 and five-colour Komori Lithrone 28.
The company recently purchased a Konica Minolta LD6501 Professional digital press, distributed by Screen, as part of its expansion into digital.
“We’ve always understood that we wanted to expand into digital. We just think it’s a logical extension of our business,” Liley said.
“Offset printing is contracting as digital printing is growing. We don’t think there’s an inevitability that everyone’s going to go to digital, but we do want to expand into a growing part of the market,” he added.
Liley said the Truepress 344 (pictured) was economical over short runs but offered quality “as good as offset”.
“There was a threefold benefit: there was a customer demand for it; it enabled us to get considerable economy in the factory, particularly on smaller jobs; and it enables us to be price competitive in the market,” he said.
The Truepress 344 will bolster the company’s short-run capacity and Liley said he would also look at digital purchases down the track.
“You can do things with digital that you can’t do with others,” he noted.
Screen Australia technical sales manager Peter Scott told ProPrint that the company sees DI technology as a good compromise for businesses looking to get the best of both worlds.
“Everyone can see the profitability of the ‘click-charge’ model decreases as you go up, so if you’re going to do longer run work it’s going to be more profitable on a DI press,” he said.
The Printing Department has around 50 staff and produces catalogues, brochures, reports business cards and cosmetics packaging.
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