Offset Printing

Swallowtail looks for expansion with second-hand B1 Speedmaster XL

Friday 07. November 2014 - Swallowtail Print has swooped in on a Speedmaster XL 105-5+L supplied from Heidelberg's remarketed equipment portfolio. The four year old press was shipped from Finland, underwent a cleaning service in Belgium and has been delivered to its new Norwich home looking "as good as new".

“We needed to upgrade our old eight year old five-colour B1 Speedmaster but a new machine would have been a step too far,” says James Baxter, production director. “We did look at all the new options from Heidelberg, KBA and Komori and we looked at several second-had dealers as well.
“We have bought second-hand through a dealer before but with Inpress Control and Autoplate XL we feel much more comfortable going with the knowledge and expertise that Heidelberg has in-house. They have said we will run at 18,000sph and they have put in the standard warranty on the overall package.”
The new press is four years old with just 98 million impressions to date. Swallowtail believes it will achieve 40 to 45 million impressions a year and that this press will increase its productivity by more than 30%, giving it the chance to aggressively market and build its sales. It offers a very wide range of quality commercial work. Its B1 tends to handle the section work, its B2 (also five-colour and coat) the cover work and smaller projects. One of its specialities is heritage print work.
“I believe this is one of the most positive things we have ever done because it will make us so much more competitive. We will be armed with advanced XL technology and a machine that will increase our profitability. It is the right machine for the right price and I welcome the news that Heidelberg UK is going to supply more second-hand equipment moving forward.”
The press will run on treble shift giving cover from 6am on Monday to 7pm on Friday. Staff welcome this equipment and its potential to build the business.