(November 23, 2008) The Martin Wetzel print shop in Gerlingen recently set a new record on its Speedmaster SM 52 four-color press, printing more than 200 million sheets in just seven years. An average value for the same period is 70 million sheets.
 
"Our strength lies in the outstanding product quality that we achieve with extremely short processing and delivery times," explains Martin Wetzel, Managing Director of the quality offset print shop, Wetzel GbR. He is a trained letterpress printer and marketing specialist.
 
"We also take on urgent jobs at weekends, which enables us to compete against rivals with larger-format presses," explains Martin Wetzel. The company, which was founded in 1973, has a workforce of five working in two shifts. The company’s key accounts include four or five major regular customers and advertising agencies. Its product portfolio comprises brochures, letterheads, stickers, invoices and book covers. The company achieves average run sizes of between 10,000 and 200,000 sheets.
 
The Speedmaster SM 52 four-color press was installed in 2001. It is equipped with a high-pile delivery, which enables a higher delivery pile, thus reducing the number of pile changes required. It replaced a GTO 52 single-color press and four-color press.
 
Over the years, Heidelberg Systemservice has retrofitted the Speedmaster SM 52 with key improvements, such as the sheet brake with suction tape. The press is still in excellent condition. An external company supplies the print shop with the requisite printing plates. A Stahlfolder Ti 52 folder was installed mid-way through this year, increasing output by around 4,000 copies an hour compared to the Stahl T 36 that had been used up until that time. "We opted for Heidelberg products right from the start," says Markus Wetzel. He decided to follow in his father's footsteps and chose to work in the print media industry, training as an offset printer and then qualifying as a master printer. He has worked in the family business since 1997.
 
Milestones in small-format printing
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) launched the Speedmaster SM 52 at drupa 1995. Since then, this small-format press has undergone continuous development. Industrial commercial print shops find it complements the large-format sector perfectly, enabling them to produce short runs profitably. Small and midsize businesses can cover their entire product range with the Speedmaster SM 52.