Ipex 2014 is inviting offset printers from around the globe to put forward their best offset press operators to show off their skills by taking part in a Make Ready Challenge, which takes place over the six-day event at the Excel London (24-29 March 2014). 

With the chance to win cash prizes and more importantly to be crowned the official Ipex 2014 Make Ready Challenge Champions, Ipex is looking for two-man teams to enter the competition and make ready a job in the quickest time possible.

Burnetts (who are members of the BPIF) is an industry leader in providing print machinery breakdown insurance plans, and will be sponsoring the Make Ready Challenge supplying a circa 2003 Heidelberg Speedmaster SM52-5 with auto-plate removed. Participating teams must have a number one who is fully trained on a SM52-5 with at least a year’s experience operating a Heidelberg of this type.

Against the clock from a standing start, each team – with a profile set up – will have to fill the feeder with a maximum 250 sheets, load the plates and achieve colour registration to complete a job that meets the high standards of the Ipex judging team. The fastest make ready will take the spoils, with an additional prize awarded for the closest participant to a 100% match.

Wayne Beckett, Make Ready Challenge organiser and Sales Director of Ipex 2014, comments: “We’ve had a lot of interest in the challenge already – such is the competitive nature of printers! We’re looking to run six sessions a day, on the hour every hour from 11.00am. It adds an extra element to Ipex, and while it is a bit fun, the challenge is a great opportunity for offset operators to demonstrate just how skilled they are. It promises to be a very entertaining spectacle and we fully expect it to pull in the crowds. With only 36 slots available, be sure to reserve one as soon as possible.”

Interested parties can enter via www.ipex.org or by clicking here. Please note that slots are assigned on a first-come, first-serve basis.