Terry and Dilu Mukadam, owners of Alltrade Printers, have placed an order for two Speedmaster XL 106 technology presses and a Polar 115 X Plus guillotine at drupa 2012. The first of two B1 format, 18,000sph presses will be delivered to their Birmingham factory in July. This will be a Speedmaster XL 106-5+L, a five-colour and coater, and it will replace a Speedmaster CD 102. 

An additional second press (specification to be finalized) will arrive next year but only after Alltrade has completed an 11,000sq ft extension to take its premises up to 42,000 sq ft in readiness for future expansion. 

Although its name suggests it is a trade printer, the company has long since extended to serving many markets directly. It attributes the larger part of its work to the calendars and greetings cards market but it also handles a broad range of high quality commercial work. 

The company has a strong reputation for high quality and response and this means all its presses are specified with coating. Work can often be transferred direct from press to one of the company's many finishing options which include cut, fold, stitch, collate, wire-o binding, shrink wrapping and labelling. 

Largest supplier of retail calendars in the UK also relies on Heidelberg postpress equipment
It added a third Stahlfolder, a fully automated TH 56, three months ago. The show order includes the Polar 115 X Plus which comes equipped with comprehensive materials handling including stacklift, jogging tables, Transomat downloader and weighing scales. 

Only about 25% of the work through the press will use all five units but it needs this for high volume, high output calendar and commercial work. One handled at the end of last year was a 50,000 run calendar produced and delivered to the shops within five days. This was made possible because of investment in high speed Wire-o binding and shrink wrapping lines. Alltrade is the largest supplier of retail calendars in the UK. 

"We were wooed by another press manufacturer but after a long and thoughtful process we returned to Heidelberg, a company we know and trust to supply top quality presses that complement their prepress and postpress equipment and with the support to match," says Dilu Mukadam. "We have been a long term Heidelberg customer and continue to buy regularly, often at drupa.  Our work can be very seasonal and having a short makeready, high speed press will be a real asset at our peak periods." 

Digital printing with Heidelberg
This major press investment comes less than a year after it became the first UK company to buy a Ricoh C 901 through Heidelberg. Since drupa 2012, Heidelberg is offering its complete range of digital print solutions for commercial and packaging printing under the name Heidelberg Linoprint. It has been flat out ever since, running 12 to 16 hours a day so plans to use it to promote online personalized calendars and greetings cards has yet to be realised. It remains a future plan and, with the enlarged premises, Alltrade will consider adding a second machine. 

Having been in business for over 30 years and run by Terry and Dilu since 1983, the 20 staff company which generates £4.5 million sales per annum has a strong track record and has a choice of finance options which it is currently considering. 

Gerard Heanue, managing director of Heidelberg UK, says: "Alltrade Printers are close and valued partners and we are really pleased that they have once again come to us at drupa, seen the potential of the latest generation press technology and placed an order. They have a deep technical knowledge and a clear-sighted business vision."