Offset Printing

Potts is potty about B2 Speedmaster XL automation

Tuesday 24. March 2015 - Potts Print (UK) is taking its new Speedmaster XL 75-6+LX into full production this month. This is its third B2 Speedmaster from Heidelberg, following on from a four- and a five-colour.

“We have presses from more than one manufacturer but we do believe Heidelberg have the best B2 press on the market,” says Shaun Johnson, managing director. “We retain two B1 presses but we need shorter runs and quicker makereadies and the B2 format with Inpress Control is right for that and the six colour units will allow us to put added value packaging through the press, too.”
The company handles a wide range of commercial print, packaging and direct mail as well as wide format digital, serving a UK and European customer base. It employs 160 staff and operates 24/6. Its clients include large multinationals and regional and local businesses, pharmaceutical companies, the public sector including the NHS and visual arts organisations. It is a design to fulfilment operation.
A unique selling point for the Cramlington company is its promise of carbon balanced print as a standard. This makes any sustainability tool a real asset and with Inpress Control spectral measurement and register adjustment it is achieving an average start up waste level of just 80 sheets on four-colour work.
“The operators love Inpress Control. The automation on these presses makes life so much easier and the staff have become quite competitive about how much print they can output which is good for productivity. The quality of print is fantastic, too, even at top speed.”
Having three same make presses allows work to be switched between presses easily, providing flexibility. Today Potts estimates its litho work is split 40-60 between B1 and B2 format.
Heidelberg, which holds the lion’s share of the B2 market in the UK, has secured a number of orders in this format in the last 12 months. The Speedmaster XL 75 is highly automated, the top of the range, but offering flexibility across a range of stocks is the Speedmaster SX 74 and the Speedmaster SM 74. The option of a B2 Anicolor has also been added and the savings in start-up waste makes it especially attractive to packaging companies.