Left to right: Miguel Carballo, CFO, Grupo Gráfico Romo-GNM; Anthony Thirlby, Consultant & Strategic Partner, Grupo Gráfico Romo-GNM; Elías Sidauy, CEO, Grupo Gráfico Romo-GNM

Kennesaw, Ga. – Grupo Gráfico Romo (Romo GNM), one of Latin America’s leading commercial and packaging printers, set two new world records during August 2024. In its facility outside of Mexico City, Romo GNM produced 2,483,461 sheets in a full week (168 hours) and 9,515,613 sheets in one month (31 consecutive days). Both records were set using its Speedmaster XL 106-8P+L from Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (HEIDELBERG), which prints at 18,000 sheets per hour and was recently installed in April.

Unparalleled Value Through the Whole Supply Chain

From high-end retail catalogs to luxury specialty folding cartons, Romo GNM offers comprehensive turnkey solutions for every aspect of its clients’ creative, printing, and fulfillment needs. The company boasts four main business units – catalogs/commercial printing, packaging/folding carton, wide format digital/point of purchase, and fulfillment – and offers impressive in-house services ranging from product photography and graphic and structural design through to complete print, finishing, and mailing.

“We ensure a creative collaboration that delivers true effectiveness for our clients,” said Elías Sidauy, CEO, Grupo Gráfico Romo-GNM. “We deliver unparalleled value through the whole supply chain and brand consistency across multiple print platforms and finishing processes.”

Beyond its extensive range of services, Romo GNM distinguishes itself as the region’s leading printer by consistently delivering the highest quality and best value products for its customers. Earlier this year, the company installed an eight-color Speedmaster XL 106 perfecting press with coater from HEIDELBERG. The machine was specifically designed to optimize production of catalogs, a core segment of Romo GNM’s business. It was also selected for its flexibility and capability to produce high-quality folding cartons, which the company intends to manufacture on the press outside its peak catalog production season.

“The Speedmaster XL 106 enables us to be competitive in this new world of printing – helping us to be more efficient and live up to the high standards of today’s customers regarding pricing, quality, and faster turnaround times,” said Sidauy.

When the press was installed earlier this year, Romo GNM partnered with consultant Anthony Thirlby to optimize its production processes. Together, they implemented a true “Push to Stop” approach from prepress to press to postpress, eliminating human touchpoints wherever possible. Developing these standard operating procedures allows the business to produce with the lowest operating cost per sheet and with the highest commercial return. In its first month of production, the XL 106 produced over 6,000,000 sheets.

“It’s so easy to only focus on whatever current job is running on press,” said Sidauy, “but we also need to be properly prepared for the next ten jobs to ensure minimal disruption to output levels and maintain a consistent level of skill and performance.”

Record Breaking Production

During its peak catalog production season, Romo GNM successfully produced a world record 9,515,613 sheets in one month (31 consecutive days) – producing 2,483,461 sheets during one of those weeks (168 hours), which is another world first. The company produced 179 different jobs and performed 1688 plate changes throughout its record-breaking run with an average run length of 53,160 sheets. All jobs were perfected and produced using four different stocks and three different sheet sizes with weights ranging from 90 gsm to 150 gsm.

Thanks to the press’s superior sheet transfer system, Romo GNM consistently ran at top press speeds of 18,000 sheets per hour with only one operator and one press helper per shift. Additionally, with the Speedmaster XL 106’s advanced Push to Stop technology, processes intelligently start on their own, so the operator only interrupts when necessary. The Push to Stop job sequencing enabled highly optimized batching, resulting in peak operational performance. Equipped with Prinect Inpress Control 3, HEIDELBERG’s industry-leading inline spectrophotometer, Romo GNM averaged 42 makeready sheets per job – maintaining consistent color, high quality, and minimal waste throughout the entire 31 days.

Sidauy proudly stated, “Our entire team – from our prepress technicians to the press operators and helpers – was part of this great achievement. They understand the Push to Stop technology and methodology, and they’ve been committed from the start to making this journey with us as a company.”

“Many congratulations to everyone at Grupo Gráfico Romo,” said Andrés Gálvez, Managing Director for HEIDELBERG Mexico. “This feat was only possible thanks to their unwavering commitment to process optimization, guided by the expertise of Anthony Thirlby.”

Romo GNM also boasts four other offset presses in production, including a Speedmaster CX 104 and Speedmaster CD 102. Its Speedmaster CX 104 is a state-of-the-art UV machine dedicated to printing the company’s specialized folding cartons. Now that its Speedmaster XL 106 is running at the optimum level of productivity, Romo GNM intends to implement similar process optimization procedures in its folding carton production.

Overall, Sidauy stated the advanced intelligence of Speedmaster presses, combined with the improvements to Romo GNM’s production practices, will help his company win more jobs. “We can give better prices along with higher quality because we are faster in the changing of a job, in the adjustment of the machine, in how many waste sheets we need to set up the machine.”

He concluded, “I think it’s too soon to quantify its magnitude, but the high level of productivity we’ve been able to achieve on the Speedmaster XL 106 is a gamechanger. Now that we understand our capabilities, we have a significant opportunity to expand the business.”

*After measurement by HEIDELBERG

About Grupo Gráfico Romo

Grupo Gráfico Romo-GNM offers graphic products and services, manufactured with high quality standards. Over the years, the company has proudly garnered the trust and loyalty of countless customers because its products are built with quality materials and the latest technologies to meet the highest industry standards. Among the top five printers in Latin America and the top ten worldwide, Grupo Gráfico Romo has positioned itself as a benchmark in the Graphic Arts Industry, including packaging, catalogs, magazines, and customized displays. It is distinguished by the high level of commitment, quality, and attention given to its customers and business partners, seeking to enhance their sales and their brand.