The Anicolor short inking unit enables users to cut startup waste by up to 90 percent and makeready time by up to 40 percent. Moscow-based printshop Formula tsveta is one of the first companies in Russia to use this technology. Production at the printshop focuses on commercial jobs such as business cards, letterheads, brochures, and flyers. "The Anicolor presses are one of the most important investments we have ever made," states Artem Dujenkov, general manager of Formula tsveta. "The time required for makeready and printing 500 sheets has dropped to nine minutes," he adds. "The biggest advantage of Anicolor compared to conventional offset presses is the color consistency it achieves over the entire job, regardless of how long the run is," Dujenkov continues. The printshop employs a workforce of 70.

The press operators, who previously worked on the Printmaster PM 52-4, very quickly learnt how to use the new Speedmaster SM 52 presses with their innovative Anicolor printing unit technology. Formula tsveta uses Saphira products, a range of consumables marketed by Heidelberg that are finely tuned to its machines.

Extended range of services
Print buyers also benefit from the new Anicolor technology because Formula tsveta extended its range of services following installation of the first press and can now process customer orders even faster. With shorter makeready times, an extended delivery, and combined dryers, the printshop can now offer four-color printing with or without coating in the space of 12 hours or even less. One further new service for print buyers is printing offset proofs using Anicolor. "We can print 20 to 30 sheets and then submit the results to the customer for approval. If he is satisfied with the samples, we go ahead and print the whole job - safe in the knowledge that the quality of all the sheets will be as good," reports Dujenkov.

Lower power requirements thanks to greater energy efficiency
Another impressive feature of the Anicolor inking unit is its greater energy efficiency. In operation at Formula tsveta, it requires even less power than indicated by the manufacturer. Ultimately, cutting consumption also benefits the environment and helps cut printshop costs. "All in all, we are extremely satisfied with Anicolor and would be happy to use this technology in other formats, too," explains Dujenkov.

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) unveiled its Anicolor technology at Ipex 2006. The Anicolor press prints up to 15,000 sheets per hour in A3 format or 30,000 pages per hour in A4 format - in top quality and with total color stability. Anicolor technology thus enables cost-effective production of short and very short runs, thereby shifting the boundary between digital and offset printing further in the favor of the latter. What's more, Anicolor's strengths can also be exploited to the full with long runs. This is not the case for digital printing.

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Besides cutting startup waste and reducing makeready time, Formula tsveta general manager Artem Dujenkov states that the main advantage of his two Anicolor presses is their excellent color consistency over the entire job - regardless of how long the run is.