Cleveland Printer Upgrades B2 Press - Third Roland Purchase for Billingham

Cleveland-based printer Billingham Press has announced that it has placed an order for a ROLAND 504LV press. The order represents the company’s third consecutive MAN Roland B2- format machine, with the new press replacing an existing ROLAND 304LV purchased in 2002.

“As a business we have undergone significant change since 2002,” said Ian Dodds, managing director of Billingham Press. “Back then we were still producing over 120 million garment tickets per year. The geographical base of final garment production had been changing over time, and eventually we were shipping the label work directly to China. We could see the writing on the wall for that particular element of our business, and realised that we needed to reposition ourselves. We now print only for design agencies, with the majority of the work coming from the north-east of the country. Having successfully made that transition, we have decided to enhance our printing capabilities by purchasing the ROLAND 500 machine.”

The design agency work handled by the company demands high-quality print production and fast-turnaround. “We generally only have a day-and-a-half’s work in hand,” said Ian Dodds. “That means that we are able to respond quickly to customer demands. If an agency needs a job to be produced same-day we are able to provide that level of service. The inclusion of a dedicated coater in the configuration of the new press means that we will be able to handle work just as soon as it comes off the press, providing for fast finishing and delivery of jobs.”

“The overall design of the machine is an improvement from the ROLAND 300 architecture. We are particularly impressed with the speed of make-ready and speed of production on the ROLAND 500. Whilst the 18,000 sheets per hour top speed is not essential most of the time, it will ensure that we don’t create blockages in the production system when we do have long runs to handle. We have also opted for the Power Plate Loading facility (PPL) as we believe that this will be a significant benefit for our operators over the long term.

“The sophisticated colour monitoring tools provided within the ColorPilot system will ensure that we maintain colour consistency throughout the run, and provide assurance to our customers. Not that we have ever had a complaint in this regard, but it is another selling feature for us as a printers. Colour is critical when working with design agencies. We will know that an operator that puts a job on the press in the middle of the night shift will be producing the same colour as the operator producing work in the middle of the day.” ColorPilot assures consistantly high print quality through densitometric colour measurement, utilising control strips that can be located at any position on the sheet.

With regard to MAN Roland’s performance as a supplier to the company, Ian stresses, “The current press is certainly one of the best purchases that we have ever made. I feel sure that its successor will also fall into that category. We have always been impressed by the service provided by MAN Roland GB, and believe that the ProServ agreement that we have taken out with the new press will enhance this element even more. ProServ provides for regular inspection of the press by our local MAN Roland engineer. The objective is to ensure that any wearing parts are spotted and replaced before we have any problems on the machine. It is a very proactive maintenance contract, designed to ensure that we can keep printing.”

The ROLAND 500 has been designed with very high quality commercial and packaging printing in mind. The ability to handle a wide range of substrates, right through to micro-flute board, its compatibility with UV inks, and the possibility to configure the machine with single or double coater, mean that this highly flexible product can be designed to match printers’ requirements exactly.

For further information on Billingham Press call 01642 55 00 67.

For information on MAN Roland’s full range of sheet-fed presses, contact MAN Roland Great Britain on the www.man-roland-gb.com web site, or call 020 8648 7090.