Kennesaw, Ga. -- "My expectations were high," said Joey Sogluizzo, plant manager for Riverside Printing in Rocky Mount, NC, of the Heidelberg Speedmaster SM 52 5-color with coater the company installed in March. His requirements for a press that would enable Riverside to produce high-quality, short-run color conventionally were straightforward: "I wanted this press to achieve quick makeready, produce a sellable sheet much faster and more economically, and be able to do so consistently."
In full production for several months now, the Speedmaster SM 52 has more than proven its mettle in every regard. "The press did what Heidelberg promised it would do," Sogluizzo said. "Not only have we established a niche in the regional market for short-run, small-format color, but we now can make more productive and efficient use of our 40-inch equipment," on which Riverside had been running some of its short-run color work. Riverside's press operators reportedly love the SM 52's fast, easy makeready, and Sogluizzo praises the high-end quality of the printing itself, which he contrasts with the "pleasing color" available with comparable digital machines.
Elsewhere in its 60,000-square-foot facility, Riverside operates two Heidelberg Printmaster QM 46-2s, together with Heidelberg cylinder and Windmill presses for die cutting and scoring. The company provides commercial printing, die cutting, folding and gluing, as well as mailing and fulfillment services to a regional client base located in and around Greenville, Raleigh, Roanoke Rapids and Halifax, NC. Its 50 full-time employees boast an average 15 years' experience in the printing industry.