If you’ve been ordering with us for a while, you’ll know Heidelberg has always been part of the family. We’ve worked with them for years, and their presses have earned their keep. They’ve been behind a lot of the print that’s passed through our factory, from everyday stationery and leaflets to larger, longer runs where litho really comes into its own.

But as demand grows, so does our need for speed, without giving an inch on quality. More customers, more jobs and increasingly tight deadlines mean we need production equipment that can keep pace with the businesses we work with. So, our old presses are being decommissioned as we speak, while two new Speedmaster XL106-8Ps are already up, running and turning out seriously impressive print at 40% faster than the kit they replaced. 

Living up to the name isn't optional when it's printed right there on the machine!

Same name, a new generation

Our previous generation of Speedmasters helped us build capacity, keep prices competitive and get an awful lot of print through the factory for years. 

But as always, technology moves on, and when you’re producing print at our scale, even relatively small improvements can become pretty significant when they’re multiplied across 
thousands of jobs.

The new Heidelberg presses have strengthened our ability to produce the core long-run work our resellers rely on, from flat print and folded products to booklets, with the high quality, dependable service and fast turnaround their customers expect.

That’s where our new Speedmaster XL106-8Ps come in. It’s not simply about replacing old machinery with new machinery because shiny things are nice. It’s about putting more production capability behind the print our resellers rely on.
 

Plate changing, without the holdup

Our new Speedmaster XL 106 presses feature Plate to Unit, a fully automated robotic plate logistics system.

Instead of an operator manually carrying, loading and removing printing plates like before, overhead guide rails deliver new plates directly to the press’s plate-changing shafts and take used plates away again. The system can change all eight plates in around three minutes, helping to keep changeovers moving quickly and consistently.

It can autonomously handle up to 150 printing plates an hour, reducing the workload on our press teams and freeing them to focus on what needs their expertise: maintaining quality and keeping jobs running smoothly.

There’s a quality benefit too. Less manual plate handling means less risk of scratches to sensitive plates, improving the reliability of every changeover and helping to reduce paper waste.
 

Built for consistency

There’s not much point producing more print if quality takes a knock. Thankfully, that’s not how we do things round here.

Built-in colour control checks the print as it runs and makes adjustments when needed, helping colour stay accurate and consistent from the first sheet to the last.

Every sheet is also inspected by high-resolution cameras before it moves on for finishing. If anything falls outside the required standard, it’s automatically removed without stopping the press, so only the good sheets make it through.

The press also prepares its ink system before the job begins, helping it get up to colour faster and reducing waste at start-up. And because it prints both sides of a sheet in one pass, it’s designed to handle freshly printed work carefully, protecting it from marking, scratching and smudging.

Our new Speedmasters give us greater capacity while maintaining the consistency, colour accuracy and finish you expect from us. They also make it easier to manage the thousands of different jobs that pass through our factory each day, giving us more flexibility without adding pressure to the process.

 

What it means for you

Ultimately, this is the bit that matters most.

As a trade printer, our role is to give you the production power behind the scenes to serve your customers with confidence.

More capacity means we can keep pace as demand grows. Faster production gives us more flexibility on turnaround times, while greater efficiency helps us remain competitive on price, giving you more room to protect your margins and keep your customers coming back.

It also gives you more confidence when plans change at the eleventh hour. Whether a customer needs a larger quantity, a tighter deadline or both, we’re better equipped to help you take on the bigger jobs.

 

More than just a press

The new presses are part of our wider £12 million investment programme, which is a fairly decisive way of saying we're not planning to stand still any time soon. We're building capacity, sharpening efficiency, and making sure that as your business grows, we're right there with you. Preferably one step ahead.

This is a big investment for us. But really, it's an investment in you, the resellers putting our print in front of your customers every single day.

We're growing, upgrading, and making a fair bit of noise about it. Fortunately, it's the sound of progress.