KENNESAW, Ga. - November 2, 2007 - Privately owned Geographics, Inc., Atlanta, reports the addition of an 8-color Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 105 press with UV coater, full interstation UV, Prepress Interface and Prinect Image Control scanning spectrophotometer to its all-Heidelberg sheetfed pressroom.
The new press, which replaces a competitive 40" press, "was the smoothest installation we have ever experienced," says Ray Weidele, head of manufacturing. "We've never had a press go in so easily. You know what they say: If they go in easy, they run well."
This is somewhat of an understatement. The XL 105 hit the ground running about a month ago and has been fully deployed ever since, turning out a wide variety of commercially printed products and light packaging, including POP/POS. The company, which recently completed a 600,000 sheet run of a CD booklet on the new XL, extols the high-performance press for its ease of use and seamless UV integration, which Weidele distinguishes from the "add-on" UV capability of some competitive presses.
Going forward, Geographics plans to use the XL 105's substrate flexibility to serve a growing market for printing on non-porous materials. With 200 employees and  sheetfed, web and digital capability, Geographics is the country's largest printer of marketing materials for the marine industry, in addition to catalogs, brochures, post cards, posters, books, POP, packaging, fulfillment, print on demand, direct mail, lasering, ink jetting and kit builds.
In addition, Geographics provides CD and DVD replication. The company already operates a 6-color Speedmaster SM 102 2/4 perfector with aqueous coater and closed-loop color control; a 10-color Speedmaster SM 102 5/5 perfector, also with closed-loop color control; in addition to Stahlfolders, POLAR cutters and a Stitchmaster ST 270 saddlestitcher. The company uses select Heidelberg consumables.