“We’ve taken on 60,000 new workers since spring 2015,” says Ralf Lokay, owner and managing director of the Lokay print shop in Reinheim near Darmstadt, with a smile. The company has set up two varietal beehives to underline its commitment to biodiversity and to make environmental protection part of its everyday life, both within the company and outside it. Its most important customers will be receiving honey as a gift this year. Lokay, more than any other print shop in Germany, has consistently geared its business strategy towards environmental protection in recent years. Founded in 1932, today the print shop has 27 employees who generated turnover of over EUR 4 million last year. “Our credo is quality, guaranteed. Our customers can rely on a certified eco printing service,” confirms Ralf Lokay. His goal is for Lokay to become the most environmentally friendly print shop in Germany. And he is well on his way, with the recent renovation of the print shop’s energy infrastructure with an investment of EUR 1.5 million. The new building was inaugurated in fall 2014 and the savings are huge – CO₂ reduced by over 55 per cent, water consumption reduced by 43 per cent, and energy consumption reduced by 57 per cent combined with a shift to green power. Ralf Lokay is particularly proud of the heating concept, which is completely fossil free. Even the single act of recovering the heat from the printing presses saves 15,000 liters of heating oil each year and cools the press rooms in the summer.

“Lots of print shops are offering eco-friendly printing these days. But we go quite a few steps further, whether with our substrates, our production technology, or our social responsibility towards our employees,” explains Thomas Fleckenstein, authorized signatory and marketing manager. “We are one of the few print shops in Germany with EMAS certification, which means we produce an environmental statement each year and have to undergo revalidation every two years. As such we offer our customers the greatest possible transparency.” The wall in the print shop’s foyer is not big enough to display all the certifications and awards. For example, Lokay came away with the Druck&Medien award for eco print shop of the year for the second time in 2015. 

100 % sustainability guarantee

The consistent focus on ecological papers and inks, alcohol-free printing, and environmentally friendly technology is well received by clients. “Companies with a commitment to sustainability are excited about our products. We are now making more deliveries nationally, and of course our logistics operation is also climate neutral,” confirms Thomas Fleckenstein. “By constantly optimizing our processes, we are transforming our company from a caterpillar into a butterfly.”

When the company was planning an investment to replace a 70 x 100 format press, it checked out all the big manufacturers. “We were most impressed by Heidelberg’s offering, especially since we are already using Heidelberg products in prepress and postpress,” explains Ralf Lokay. “Just like Heidelberg, we don’t define ourselves by technology, but rather by smooth processes as well as our closeness to our customers and the benefit we can offer them.” 

Once Lokay had decided on the Speedmaster CX 102 five-color press with coating unit and Prinect Inpress Control 2, the new drupa components were tested on this press. The universal press was equipped ex-works with the new Prinect Press Center XL 2 and the Wallscreen XL with Intellistart 2.  

The press has now been in three-shift operation since fall of last year. “All in all the press has enabled us to increase productivity and efficiency, shorten makeready times, and offer very high quality,” reports a satisfied Ralf Lokay. The operation has also become more streamlined and economical. All the measurement data from the Prinect Inpress Control 2 spectral color measurement system is automatically saved in Prinect and can be shown to the customer as proof if necessary. “A manual press means manual prices. The high level of automation and the consistent Prinect workflow means that we can now offer our customers fair market prices with shorter delivery times,” adds Thomas Fleckenstein. The operators can now prepare and automatically process up to 30 jobs on the Wallscreen XL from the new Prinect Press Center XL 2 high-performance control station with Intellistart 2, which means greater flexibility and less downtime. They are guided through the job changes and have a perfect overview of all processes. 

Adaptive ink presetting with the Color Assistance Pro assistance system of the Prinect Press Center XL 2 and the new Prinect Inpress Control 2 inline color measurement system means that, as expected, inking up is much faster and paper waste is significantly reduced, which in turn benefits the environment. All processes – from prepress, through press, to postpress – are integrated via the latest 2017 version of the Prinect workflow software, which ensures a high level of transparency.

More efficient use of resources

“The new Speedmaster CX 102 is an ideal fit for our strategy of optimizing processes. As well as printed products, we have also been offering our customers an e-business model since 2007 so they can have direct access via the internet. We will be launching our new online shop this summer,” explains Thomas Fleckenstein. This new business model will offer sophisticated printed products that are printed in a sustainable way. Environmental protection remains a high priority. Recycled paper already accounts for over 40 per cent of the paper consumed, while sustainable papers account for over 70 per cent. “We want to advise and inspire our customers. Just like our customers, we love high-quality, beautiful printed products, and sell them both online and offline,” says Ralf Lokay in summary. Who knows, in the future customers may be able to order their honey directly from Lokay, complete with a high-quality and sustainably printed label.