Heidelberg USA reports the following new product installations:

Minneapolis Printer Relies on Heidelberg Technology for Prepress Success
Heidelberg’s Prinect workflow has driven prepress operations at Shapco Printing, a full-service commercial shop in Minneapolis, for years. When it came time to install a new platesetter, Heidelberg’s reputation for quality plus guaranteed compatibility with Prinect workflow led the shop to install a new Suprasetter 105 thermal platesetter from Heidelberg. “There is so much positive feedback in the marketplace about the reliability and quality of Heidelberg’s platesetters,” said Joel Shapiro, who co-founded Shapco Printing with his two brothers in 1976. “We already had the Prinect prepress system, and the concept of full integration was very attractive.” In addition to general commercial work, Shapco Printing, which has grown over the last three decades to 125 employees and five 40-inch presses, handles point-of-sale printing for retailers, menus for national restaurants, annual reports and art books. “We’re known as a high-end prepress shop,” Shapiro said. “We do some very sophisticated Photoshop work.” A high-end shop needs the best in prepress workflow, and Prinect from Heidelberg fits the bill. “I really like the overall reliability, features and screening capabilities. Prinect gets an A-plus across the board. The PDF workflow is really sensational; the speed at which everything rips and the ease with which it works with various programs such as InDesign, PageMaker and QuarkXPress is really terrific.” Shapco’s new Suprasetter, which includes an internal punching system, is also working out well. “Internal punch on the Suprasetter was a good step forward,” Shapiro said. “We are reducing the number of pulls needed to get in register, and that’s something we couldn’t achieve with the external punch.” In addition to the Suprasetter, the shop runs a 5-color Printmaster GTO press and three Stahlfolders from Heidelberg.

Unity Printing Finds Harmony, Adds Two Heidelberg Presses
Unity Printing Company of Latrobe, Pa. recently installed two Heidelberg Printmaster QM 46 presses to boost productivity in its pressroom. The company was so impressed with the brand new 2-color Printmaster QM 46 press that it quickly ordered a second one less than one month later. The first press installed has generated nearly two million impressions in under six months, and the second press boasts nearly one million impressions. By adding two new QM 46 presses in one month, Unity Printing has more than doubled its production capability. “We experienced such amazing reductions in makeready and turn-around time on the QM 46 presses,” Operations Manager John Melle said. “Now we are able to run jobs much more quickly with less waste. The number of jobs we have successfully run on the new press is unbelievable.” The company replaced an older model, non-automated competitive press with the new QM 46 presses, which are running one-, two- and four-color jobs. “We are using less manpower to do twice as much work,” Melle said. “Essentially, we are able to do the same amount of work, if not more, on the two Heidelberg Printmaster QM 46 presses as we did on the four presses we were using, which makes Unity Printing more competitive in the marketplace and benefits our customers.” Melle cites make-ready time reduction as one of the most impressive qualities of the QM 46 presses, along with a large decline in the number of waste sheets and improved overall quality. Unity Printing Owner Jay Ernette visited a shop in Florida recently that had Heidelberg presses, prompting the company’s research into Heidelberg equipment after witnessing these presses at work. “The QM 46 presses are such a good fit for our company,” Melle said. Unity Printing runs general commercial work for regional clients in a variety of industries. Founded in 1979, the company currently employs 23.

Heidelberg Press Technology is Simply the Best for Raff Printing
When asked why he chose to install a new Heidelberg 5-color Speedmaster SM 52 press, Raff Printing Vice President and part-Owner Ron Yeckel says it simply – “It’s just the best.” For a company that runs several larger Heidelberg presses, the results of the mid-size SM 52 press are surprising. “The SM 52 is unbelievable,” Yeckel said. “It prints solids as well as our larger Heidelberg presses, which is hard to believe when printing on 24-point board.” The company chose to install the new press with aqueous coating capabilities to enhance its four-color, two-sided envelope production. “You can do anything with this press,” Yeckel said. The new press is protected by Heidelberg’s Systemservice 36plus service package, which offers 36 months of expanded support services, maintenance, repair services and parts coverage. Raff Printing’s suite of Heidelberg presses includes four Heidelberg offset presses, including a 6-color Speedmaster CD 102 with coater. For finishing work, Raff relies on high-performing Heidelberg postpress equipment, including a POLAR automatic cutter, Stitchmaster ST 400 stitcher and a Heidelberg Stahlfolder. The company produces a large range of high-end products for its clients, including books, folders, catalogs, brochures, posters and other general commercial work. Raff Printing was founded more than 55 years ago in Pittsburgh, and currently houses 115 employees.

Heidelberg Press Technology Boasts One Million Impressions for Ann Arbor Shop
Malloy Inc., a premier book printing company in Ann Arbor, Mich., recently installed a Speedmaster SM 52 with Anicolor and a Suprasetter A52 platesetter, both from Heidelberg. The new installations are already enhancing productivity for the shop, which produced more than 1.1 million impressions on the press in the first 30 days of production. “The Anicolor technology significantly reduces make-ready time and brings us up to color quickly,” Malloy’s Vice President and General Manager Peter Shima said. “Our make-ready waste is also substantially less than before.” The company replaced an older model press with the SM 52, which the company is primarily using to produce book covers. “We can produce about three covers per hour already, and we are still in the learning phase,” Shima said. “The SM 52 really lives up to its advertising in terms of waste reduction, image quality and productivity – and the registration is dead-on.” The press was installed with Heidelberg’s Systemservice 36plus package, which allows for 36 months of service support, maintenance, repair support and replacements. Malloy chose to install Heidelberg’s accompanying platesetter, the Suprasetter A52, which images small- and mid-format plates that coordinate perfectly with the SM 52. With runs averaging 4,000 copies or less, the smaller format is “a perfect fit.” As one of the early adopters of CtP almost 15 years ago, Malloy is accustomed to embracing the latest technologies. The company runs a variety of Heidelberg equipment, including a Speedmaster SM 74 used for printing covers, a Speedmaster SM 102 used for printing text, and several POLAR cutters. Malloy Inc. has 285 employees who print and bind books for national accounts. The company focuses on soft-cover and case-bound books, and was founded in 1960.

Hightower Graphics Makes Transition to Offset with Heidelberg Press
For his first venture into sheetfed offset printing, Chad Hightower chose a new 2-color Printmaster QM 46 press from Heidelberg. He started his Indianapolis-based shop, Hightower Graphics, five years ago as a broker, and has expanded his capabilities as business has grown over the years. “I’ve always been a fan of Heidelberg,” Hightower said. “I know people who run the QM 46 and have been very happy as far as the quality for small format. It’s a tremendous press and it does phenomenal work.” The shop also recently acquired a new POLAR 66 cutter. “We wanted the ease of programming, which the POLAR 66 cutter offers, and this particular model was the perfect size for us,” Hightower said. And in prepress, Hightower runs a Quicksetter 300E platesetter. The shop uses Heidelberg Saphira Perfect Dot blankets on the press as well as other Heidelberg Saphira Consumables. “This Printmaster is our first step into offset,” Hightower said. “Business has been very good — we love it.”