Heidelberg Speedmaster SM 52 with Anicolor Inking Unit Technology Creates Competitive Advantages

The Anicolor short inking unit enables users to cut startup waste by up to 90 percent and makeready times by up to 40 percent.

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) has already sold more than 60 Speedmaster SM 52 presses with Anicolor technology. As a result, print shops around the world are able to build their own valuable competitive advantages. Demand is particularly high in the U.S., Germany, Switzerland and the U.K. This year, Anicolor technology won the prestigious U.S. PIA/GATF Award for technological innovation. Last year, it won Deutscher Drucker magazine's annual innovation award.

The U.S. print shop Taylor Corporation, based in North Mankato, Minnesota, has already ordered six Anicolor presses. Four of these units are already in use, while the other two are to be installed at other branches. Taylor has facilities at a total of 50 locations throughout the U.S., where production focuses on short-run commercial work, such as business cards, letterheads, brochures, and flyers. Almost 95 percent of orders consist of fewer than 1,000 sheets. "The Anicolor press is one of the best investments we have ever made," comments Craig Krone, Head of Production at Taylor. "Our makeready times have dropped from 15 minutes to seven or eight minutes and we get to color after 20 to 25 sheets," he adds. With an average of five job changes per hour, this represents an immense boost to productivity. "The biggest advantage of Anicolor compared to conventional offset presses is the color consistency it achieves over the entire job, regardless of how long the run is. The printer no longer has to rectify color and therefore has more time for other tasks," explains Krone.

The Anicolor press has also impressed print shops in the U.K. One of the first companies to use the technology was Doveton Press in Bristol, which was also an early adopter of CtP platesetting and digital printing. The print shop can now switch between digital and offset printing depending on the job and print motif in question. The Anicolor press handles runs of over 500 sheets and can also process and coat higher ink densities. The print shop produces brochures, flyers, posters and greetings cards. "Wastage and ink consumption is low," comments Head of Production, Mark Savage.

The press runs for six days a week and produces an average of 1.5 million prints each month.

The Speedmaster SM 52 with Anicolor technology was also the highlight at all of this year's open house events in Germany. Buyers are already lined up for the demonstration presses.

Printing with Anicolor creates less waste and is more eco-friendly
Heidelberg introduced Anicolor inking unit technology on a Speedmaster SM 52 four-color press at Ipex 2006. Hardly any startup sheets are required - typically just 10 to 20, depending on the print motif. This means up to 90 percent less startup waste. The fact that no ink zone settings are required cuts makeready times by up to 40 percent, a saving that can increase press capacity by up to 25 percent or even more with the right kind of run structures.

This extends the benefits of offset printing to even the shortest of runs, providing significantly improved production margins. These benefits also still apply to longer runs. The major plus point of the Speedmaster SM 52 with Anicolor inking unit lies in the fact that it employs the tried-and-tested Alcolor continuous dampening system and therefore uses commercially available printing plates. The more standardized the printing process - with Prinect Color Management for example - the better the strengths of Anicolor can be exploited.

Heidelberg presented a Speedmaster SM52 ten-color press with a perfecting device and Anicolor short inking unit at this year's IGAS in Tokyo. The press combines the benefits of simultaneous printing on both sides of the sheet with all the advantages of Anicolor - namely up to 90 percent reduction in startup waste, combined with exceptional quality and consistent inking.