April 23, 2007 -- AUSTIN, Tex. — In 1995, Horizon Printing had eight employees, two duplicators and a one-color, 25-inch press. Today, the 50-employee operation provides digital prepress, on-demand and variable data printing and bindery services to complement its multicolor sheetfed printing. Horizon Printing recently installed a Mitsubishi Diamond 3000LX sheetfed press with aqueous and ultraviolet (UV) coating capabilities. The six-color, 40-inch press is acclaimed for its ability to handle a wide range of stock types, from 0.002 inches to 0.040 inches, including paper, packaging board and plastic substrates. "We wanted to offer high-quality printing up to six colors, and we wanted coating capabilities on a 40-inch press," said Mike Spann, president. "Additionally, we wanted to be able to offer customers in this area the advantages of UV inks and coatings. Right now, we are the only printer in the Austin area with those capabilities." Established in 1991, Horizon Printing caters to central Texas with full print-related services. To ensure that jobs are delivered in a timely manner regardless of the turnaround time, Horizon Printing staffs its presses around the clock during the week and partially on weekends. The firm's sheetfed lineup currently consists of the new Mitsubishi press, along with a five-color, 29-inch press with aqueous coater and a two-color, 20-inch press. Horizon Printing purchased the Diamond 3000LX as a replacement for an older five-color, 40-inch perfector without a coater. In addition, Horizon Printing operates a Xerox DocuColor 5000 digital press. Spann describes Horizon Printing as a commercial printer that does a little bit of everything and strives to deliver high quality at a very competitive price. This philosophy helps explain Horizon Printing's sales growth, which is averaging 20 percent a year. Revenues approached $7 million in 2006, and Spann expects even stronger results in 2007 thanks to the Mitsubishi press. Horizon Printing equipped the Diamond 3000LX for full interdeck UV curing. A multi-lamp configuration allows for curing at higher production speeds and end-of-press curing with three UV lamps and an infrared dryer. "We underwent an extensive shopping experience," Spann recalled. "In the area of the hybrid press and UV in particular, we felt Mitsubishi provided more specific information. They seemed better informed on the technology and market applications. They also had strong support from their customer base. We talked to quite a few of their customer and received extremely positive responses." At present, conventional inks and coatings represent the majority of work being produced on the Diamond 3000LX, according to Spann, but the number of UV jobs is growing. "We are certainly developing an interest in UV among our customers," he said. "The wide stock range of the press will allow us to move into package printing. We are also looking to develop a market for printing on plastics." In the meantime, Horizon Printing is "producing really beautiful UV pieces," Spann added. "The press is very solid," he said. "We are getting good work off of it. We are quite pleased with the performance."