KENNESAW, Ga. – July 2, 2007 – Richard Bonham, owner of Century Graphics in Columbus, Ohio, has been a Heidelberg fan since he began working with the 6-color Speedmaster SM 72 more than 15 years ago. He later added another Speedmaster SM 72, this time a 5-color, to his pressroom and recently went looking for a new Heidelberg press to keep up with the company’s growth. A trip to the Print Media Demonstration Center at Heidelberg’s headquarters in Kennesaw, Ga. helped him make up his mind.
“When I saw the Speedmaster XL 105 running, and became educated on its features and automation, I knew that this was the machine that would help us grow,” Bonham said. He was particularly impressed with the touch-screen controls. “This really changes the game,” he said. “The XL 105 is more than even the sales reps at Heidelberg represented it to be, with excellent productivity, quality, rate of production and automation.”
With the installation of Heidelberg’s Speedmaster XL 105 in the company’s all-Heidelberg pressroom, as well as the recent addition of a Stahlfolder TH 82 folder and POLAR 137 XT with full cutting system, including Transomat, jogger and pile turner, Century Graphics has “essentially reinvented itself,” according to Bonham. The 39-year-old company now has the ability to print 16-page signatures, and is experiencing the benefits of quick makeready times on their short-run saddle-bound jobs (12-48 pages).
Operators of the new press have run the press at its full speed of 18,000 impressions per hour – each operator was trained on the press by Heidelberg instructors. According to Bonham, the company re-printed a four-color, 386-page book that originally took 100 hours to complete. On the Speedmaster XL 105, the job took only 27 hours. Century Graphics’ 34 employees serve graphic designers, advertising agencies and educational institutions in their region, as well as a national insurance company.