Magna IV Installs 40-Inch Mitsubishi Perfector for Printing and Coating Both Sides of Sheets in One Pass
Press release from the issuing company
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. November 7, 2006 In its quest to continually enhance production capacity and print quality, Magna IV has installed its first convertible press. The 40-inch Mitsubishi Diamond 3000R is configured for four-over-four printing with aqueous tower coaters before and after the sheet-reversing unit.
In the perfecting mode, the Double Diamond can process lightweight paper up to 12-point board. When converted to straight printing, it can handle the thinnest of papers up to 24-point board. Known as the Double Diamond because of its ability to print and coat both sides of the sheet in one pass, the press brings a new level of productivity to the 31-year-old general commercial printer, according to Kent Middleton, Magna IV's president.
"Ninety percent of our work is four-over-four with coating," Middleton said. "We cut our press time almost in half by running jobs through the press once instead of twice."
Magna IV knows the importance of quickly meeting customers' needs. Started as a high-resolution scanning and lithography service provider in 1975, Magna IV began manufacturing printed material in 1995. The firm acquired its first Mitsubishi press in 1996.
Today, Magna IV employs a staff of 70. It occupies a 50,000-square-foot facility that currently runs its presses around the clock, seven days a week. In addition to the Double Diamond perfector, Magna IV operates three more 40-inch Mitsubishi presses: two six-colors with coaters and a two-color.
Publications with print runs of 2,000 to 20,000 copies for the real estate market, medical community and crafts industry make up a sizeable portion of Magna IV's $12.5 million annual sales.
"We have been experiencing growth in the volume of publication work we do," Middleton noted. "That is the main reason we bought the new press."
The printer also does a fair amount of menus, signage and related products for the hospitality industry, as well as different projects for agency clients. Middleton said production efficiency is critical.
"We are very fortunate to have presses that rarely have unscheduled downtime," Middleton said. "Mitsubishi presses are durable machines. They run and run. If a press would ever break down, we can have a service technician on-site the next day. As far as the service we receive from Mitsubishi, we wouldn't look anywhere else."