KENNESAW, Ga. - January 15, 2007 -Associated Printing Company, Inc., a general commercial printer in Covington, Ga., recently marked its switch to a CtP workflow by replacing an aging 2-color press with a Heidelberg Printmaster PM 52 4-color press and installing a Prosetter P52 platesetter to match - the company's first experience with Heidelberg.
Previously, says company President Chuck Hill, "We were doing some four-color work by making two passes through the press, or we outsourced it. Not only was it a time-consuming and laborious process, but we also were getting killed on price. We're as much as 100 percent more productive with the new PM 52 - so much so that we now can help out a lot of smaller shops in the area that don't have these capabilities."
What does he like best about the new press? "It's a Cadillac," says Hill, citing throughput, quality and flexibility. "We now run as much in one day as we used to run in a week.  Autoplate automated plate mounting is a blessing. It's easy and the press is fast to come up to color. This press can handle anything and everything we throw at it, making us more competitive and less price-sensitive. We're making more money on the jobs we handle than we used to."
To perfectly complement the Prosetter P52, Associated Printing also purchased Heidelberg Saphira Violet plates. The Saphira violet plate is a high resolution plate and has the fastest press rollup of any CtP plate on the market. Heidelberg Consumables are in use throughout the shop, Hill says. Established in 1985 and with nine employees, Associated Printing provides commercially printed products to a primarily local clientele.