Information required on machinery needed to litho print

[Robert Walker]

Hi Denise

I trained as a litho printer and for 10 years i ran a 2 col and a 4 col speedmaster, when i decided to make the move to set up on my own my first thoughts was to buy a press, i started to make a list of things i would need. If i was going to stick with traditional litho the list was massive

Litho Press
4col/2col Heidelberg or Ryobi there are cheap machines but they are awfull
Platemaker
CTP units can be picked up cheap but theres generaly a reason why there selling them, we went through 3 DPX units in 10 years
Guillotine
Fire Cabinet
Most of the chemicals used are nasty and explosive and are watched by the COSH guys (Alcohol, Blanket Wash, Fount solution, Activator and Stabileizer)
Waste Chemical Collection
CTP platemakers need washing out once a week and the chemicals cant be flushed down the sink

there is more equipment you will find yourself needing folder ect

I would say unless your going to be able to print all day every day youll never make your money back.

Just for instance to pint 5000 D/S A5 leaflets
Plate Making with a CTP 20min by hand with a camera 60min
Inking up and Setting up on a 2col can be 30-45min depending how automated your press is.
Running the 1st 2 cols both sides 30min
Wash up for 2nd 2 cols 30min
Inking up and Setting 2nd 2 cols 30-45min
Running the 2nd 2 cols both sides 30min
Wash up (you cant leave ink on the rollers over night and not in the ducts for 2 days) 30min

so 5000 D/S A5 flyers can take 3-4.5hrs
I would buy this job in for £51 delivered to the customer
ok this is a worst case but if your doing 10 jobs a day then you can batch print them together and you will see profit.

I know i sound really negative but i spent a good 6 months looking at presses and plate makers and ended up walking away with my tail between my legs

Robert

[Colin Crabb]

Dependant on the finances you have, there’s a few areas to look at that would ‘do away’ with some of the traditional equpiment needed and more importantly in the litho game increase your speed (Make ready & set up is a large factor in litho print, eg some of the older Heildelbergs do not have auto plate, which means each of the four plates CYMK has to be mounted on press by hand, lined up, ink set – a very skill intensive process)
For example, the Heildelberg DI46 is a direct image press – its ‘plate’ are made on press, ink, lining up etc all done via computer interface, once your use to this system its alot quicker (I could set up a 4col job in about 10mins with minimal sheet usage, compared to using a Ryobi 524 manual set-up which was 30mins – 1hr dependant on the job)

If your looking at just leaflets and business cards, take a look at the digital presses and variants of them, HP indigo is a great piece of kit, has near litho quality or the dry toner style machines eg Oce, Xerox etc as costs are easier to workout with fixed ‘click’ rates, machine operator doesn’t have to be as skilled, no harsh wet chemicals, faster operation – Digital can beat offset litho on short(er) runs.

Personal, unless you’ve got your market, I’d be very careful about going down the traditional litho route (wet ink, CTP chemical systems etc) as start up’s not going to be cheap, and the industry is very competitive and a number of printers have been scaling back or going under due to seeing a cut in there margins, just yesterday I got quotes ranging from £280 – £400 for the same spec’d job (okay it wasnt a standard job 😕 )

If you wanna know more pop me a email (colin@vertiworks.co.uk) and I’ll try to help.

[Tim Painter]

Avoid it like the plague.

Yes have some form of digital machine for very small runs and a guillotine.

The rest farm out, good margins to be had if you put the right jobs with the right printers.

Small scale litho is dead, unless you concentrate on a specific bespoke line.

[Dan Osterbery]

Hi denise,
we have been looking at this as we have been subcontracting printing for about 12 years and have built up a good customer base. What we have found as the recession has bit, it is mainly flyers,biz cards that we have been doing. So we have found konica minolta digital printer, and morgana finishing equipment, and we think the numbers work out, to stop subbing it. If we get large runs (which we tend not to in Menorca) we will continue to sub it, but all the rest we will do ourselves. The times frames for production means we can offer 24hr and 48hr delivery, which works well here as everyone leaves everything to the last minute, and not having the stress of hoping someone else will get it done in time is what started the research for us. I am off to Madrid next week to play with the machines and the finshing equipment to see if they do what they claim!!

Goodluck

Dan

p.s. other goos news about digital set up is no massive changes on the health and safety front chemical wise!

[David Rowland]

yep, small run litho is dead and without CTP in the workflow it useless.

Xerox Docucolor and Konica Minolta as the chap above just said works

[Paul Hughes]

as tim said….. avoid it like the plague!!!!

i had two litho presses and a konica Minolta digital press.

no money in it, there are trade printers almost giving jobs away.

solded the two litho presses (to nigeria!) and just do very short run or very quick stuff on the konica which you can make a buck on, other than that everything is subed out. making more money with less hassle.

the konica is coming due for updating, will be thinking very long and hard about reinvesting.

Paul

[Denise Goodfellow]

Thank you for the replies.

I thought it was worth a bit of digging as the chap selling the business his numbers/profit margins did stack up… but we didn`t get to look at his books to see if they were honest figures.

Big kisses all around xxxxx