May 6, 2003 -- CHICAGO, IL - When it comes to in-plant operations, the trick for managers is to always get more for less. For Randy Rowell, Facilities Director at the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) Southeast division shop in Atlanta, he saw an opportunity earlier this year and grabbed it. Installing A.B.Dick’s new 4995A-ICS four-color press with an Ink Volume Setter (IVS) software package, he significantly reversed his ratio of two-color to four-color jobs and experienced tremendous savings. “Times are getting tougher and with the amount of work we produce, we decided to get out of the two-color business and go to four-color,” said Rowell, who began 2003 by doing 30 percent of his jobs in four-color. By the end of the year, he expects it to be 60 percent. “With the amount of money we are saving, we will pay for this press by mid-2004.” Most recently, Rowell sent all of his flat, four-color jobs to outside printers. When he began working at ACS, Rowell used an A.B.Dick press for one and two-color jobs. Work requirements eventually led to upgrading to an A.B.Dick 9995 two-color model. All of the in-plant work today is for ACS operations in Georgia and North and South Carolina. Rowell also relies on A.B.Dick’s top-selling DPM2340 digital platesetter to handle all of his shop’s pre-press functions. Rowell received a return on his investment one day after the 4995A-ICS (Ink Control System) press was installed. Eric Wynn, his Printing Manager, received training and ran a four-over-four job the same day. “We did a sizable amount of research and knew the 4995A-ICS press was ready-to-make technology,” said Rowell, a 12-year ACS employee. “A majority of similar four-color presses were larger and double the cost. I’ve also known (sales representative) Jim Daniel for 30 years and he’s never steered me wrong.” An average run size for any job Rowell and his three person staff prints is 2,000 copies. The workload ranges from business cards and letterhead to four-color posters and brochures and everything in between. “We do jobs with 500 impressions and we’ve done some with 50,000 and 100,000 run lengths,” said Rowell. “We saved a significant amount of money on a four-over-four spot color job with 130,000 copies. We would have sent it out in the past but with the 4995A-ICS press, I reduced my cost on the job by 30 percent.” According to Rowell, having the combination of the DPM2340 and the 4995A-ICS press is like a championship prizefighter with a deadly left jab and powerful right uppercut. The DPM2340 provides the set-up and the 4995A-ICS delivers the knockout. “The semi-automatic plate loader, the automatic blanket cleaning, its streamfeeding capabilities, and a vacuum pull guide system are all wonderful features. The streamfeeder saves us time because it makes registration a non-issue,” said Rowell of the 4995A-ICS. “We bought the DPM2340 mostly for the quality of the plates but it is not limited to just one thing,” continued Rowell. “The plates have been impressive, producing quality as good or better than film. We’re also using IVS (Ink Volume Setter) software with the files and it’s providing a huge advantage. Both first-run and rerun jobs are setting up much faster. This software gives you a precise and accurate ink density right from the start.”