Growth and Employee Focus Key To Investment Decision

ADDISON, IL - In late September 2017, the first RMGT 10 Series Press powered by LED-UV curing and featuring a full suite of RMGT make-ready and print quality technology will be installed at VISOgraphic's 40,000 square foot facility in Addison, IL. When Chicago area commercial, digital and packaging printer VISOgraphic began their search for the new 40" offset printing press that would propel them through the growth spurt they are experiencing, the RMGT 10 Series really wasn't on their radar. However, after several meetings and visits to key RMGT customers in the Midwest, the decision to move ahead with RMGT was made by the VISOgraphic management team.

"Honestly, moving away from our current brand was a little scary," states Bob Dahlke Jr., VP of Business Development for VISOgraphic. "Our CD presses still print a great dot, but we needed more and better automation to keep up with our customer's demanding projects and when we saw much, much older RMGT (Mitsubishi) presses still running well in the same shop with a brand new RMGT 10 we felt confident that our new press was built to last for hundreds of millions of impressions." The new RMGT 10 Series press that is landing at VISOgraphic will feature 16,200 SPH press speed and LED-UV curing offering a huge increase in throughput since every sheet will be instantly ready for either back up or finishing. Continues Dahlke, "We wanted our extremely loyal and hardworking staff to have the most technologically advanced press available so they can do their job more effectively."

John Dahlke, COO, did much of the technical research on both the RMGT 10 and LED-UV curing for VISOgraphic and he found reference after reference of printers who are experiencing great results with both the 10 Series press and low energy usage LED-UV curing. "But really it was our trip to Push Solutions in New Berlin, Wisconsin that sold us on LED-UV. Our pressman pointed out how crisp the dot was after being instantly cured and also remarked on how much faster Push runs their 9 Series press with 100% dried sheets being delivered to the pile." After John's research the Baldwin UVed Flex LED-UV system was specified for their new press. "The ability to not only move our lamp from inter-deck to delivery but also change the focal point using interchangeable lenses just made sense technologically."

Special effects printing and coating were certainly on the "must have" list for VISOgraphic so their new press is equipped with the latest Harris & Bruno DUO coating system which allows them to move from aqueous to LED-UV curable coatings in a matter of minutes. Bob Dahlke Sr. who always has his eye on sales at VISOgraphic comments, "Our client list includes Fortune 500s and also very talented design and advertising firms so bringing the latest in high end coatings to our customers will allow VISOgraphic to enhance the impact their projects make for their customers. Our investment in this new press is really a customer-centric decision based on suggestions we've gotten from our sales team to better meet their customer's needs."

When VISOgraphic decided to replace 3 legacy presses and move that work to the new RMGT 10 the reliability and productivity of their new press was obviously very important. "We take our customer's investment decisions very seriously at Graphco. During our 2 site visits we showed our friends at VISOgraphic an RMGT 9 Series and a 10 Series press that produced over 82 Million impressions combined since spring of 2016. The durability and reliability of the RMGT brand came through loud and clear", states Derek Gordon, Graphco's Midwest Regional Manager.

Later in 2017 VISOgraphic will host an LED-UV Special Effects Application Symposium to fully introduce their new print capabilities and RMGT 10 Series press to the Chicago area print, marketing, design, advertising and packaging community. This event will be also become the official release of the VISOgraphic LED-UV Application Guide which will allow clients to see and feel the latest in LED-UV curable coatings along with curing on synthetics, clears and all the popular non-coated sheets so they can specify which special effect is best for their high-value projects. "We are thrilled to work with VISOgraphic in taking this exciting next step in their 71 year long history. Bob Dahlke Sr. and my father, Bill Manley, both bought existing businesses in the mid '70s when interest rates topped 20% and the business climate was very tough," adds Chris Manley, President of Graphco. "I have a great deal of respect for men of his generation and it's a privilege to partner with VISOgraphic on this important investment."