U.S. print shop Mele Printing has already been working with their new five-color Speedmaster 52 Anicolor press for three months. Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) exhibited this particular press at Graph Expo in the U.S. in fall 2012. Mele Printing, the largest commercial print shop for offset and digital printing in the New Orleans area, was actually looking for another digital press at the time to handle the strong growth in order volumes. The company has achieved annual growth rates of up to twelve percent for the last four years and is looking to reach sales of USD 12 million in 2013.

"The Anicolor press was exactly the solution we were looking for to fill the gap between our Speedmaster XL 105 and our digital high-speed press," explains CEO Mallery Mele.

The new acquisition has become the hub of the company's production. Mele Printing transfers surplus jobs from the digital press and the Printmaster QM 46 to the new machine and can now also produce small-format four-color envelopes in-house, a task that it had previously outsourced at an annual cost of USD 50,000.
 
The competitive advantages that the new press brings are similar to those of the company's existing Speedmaster XL 105 - speed, cost-efficiency, and first-class quality.

Mele Printing is currently using the Speedmaster 52 Anicolor up to a capacity of 70 percent in single shift operation and is benefiting from short makeready times averaging ten minutes, fast inking-up with no more than ten sheets of waste, consistent ink coverage, and user-friendly operation. The company plans to extend production on the Anicolor press to two shifts.

Mele explains: "The interplay between the Speedmaster SM 52 Anicolor and the Speedmaster XL 105 is ideal for our production environment. The two machines are the perfect combination for any medium-sized commercial print shop with annual revenue of at least USD 10 million. The Systemservice support provided by Heidelberg eliminates any problems quickly and ensures our investment is future-proof."

More than 250 print shops worldwide are already using the Anicolor inking unit technology launched in 2006 to deliver a cost-effective response to ever shorter print runs and frequent job changes. Ten percent of the Speedmaster SM 52 Anicolor presses sold worldwide are installed in North America. The "90-50-50" formula succinctly encapsulates the advantages of this technology - 90 percent less paper waste (which first and foremost benefits the environment), 50 percent shorter makeready times, and 50 percent higher productivity.