Offset Printing
Copy Express Showcases New RMGT 940 with LED-UV at Open House
Tuesday 22. August 2017 - The Lexington Kentucky-Based Printer Brings First RMGT 940 To U.S. Market
Copy Express of Lexington recently purchased the RMGT 940ST-5+CC+LED-UV Five Color with Coater offset press from Graphco. This is the first RMGT 940 press to be installed in the United States and the first RMGT 940 with coater to be delivered worldwide.
Copy Express has seen tremendous growth in recent years, with president and owner Mark Hicks noting that he has made strategic acquisitions over the last several years to facilitate that expansion. “Thats how I grow as quickly as I want,” he noted. The combined company which has consolidated under the Copy Express brand is now the largest commercial printer in the area, counting most of the ad agencies, major corporations and universities among their growing client list.
Relationships and maintaining the human element has remained important as the shop has expanded its reach, and the need for high-quality, versatile equipment has also been increasingly critical. He needed faster speeds, larger sizes, and added features like UV coating to continue to grow the business. After comparing other brands, he went with the RMGT 940 press, trading in two older presses for the one new machine, and increasing his capacity and capabilities at the same time.
“I wasnt even aware of this press,” Hicks noted. “Copy Express was a Heidelberg shop, so we were looking at some of their equipment. I stumbled across RMGT at a trade show, and I fell in love with the technology. I had to have it.”
While Copy Express has an extensive digital department, Hicks pointed out that the shop still does long-run jobs, so high quality offset printing is still very much a technology they need. And the RMGT 940 is much more economical at shorter runs than its competitors, allowing the shop to move some work that had been digital back to offset, which allows them to produce the work more economically. And, said Hicks, with the automation features and the ability to send job set up data directly to the press, “it is a very neat system.”
To celebrate the new press, Copy Express is hosting an open house event on Friday, August 25. “Were going to have food, a live band, door prizes, the works,” said Hicks. Local newspaper and television crews have been invited to cover the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new RMGT 940, and Kozak Takata, RYOBI MHI Group Leader International Sales, will be on hand for the celebration as well.
Key to the Copy Express investment decision was the significant cost reductions and quality improvements that the RMGT SMART Insta.Color make-ready technology provides. “When we brought Marks crew to Metzgers in Toledo to see their RMGT 9 Series 10 color we shared the real world experience of Insta.color and LED-UV curing.” States Chris Manley, President of Graphco. Continuing, “of course the jobs we printed were the ones that over taxed their existing presses but the 9 came up to color in minutes and with LED-UV the jobs were ready to finish immediately.”
“This is an incredibly exciting installation for RMGT and Graphco,” said Chris Manley. “Copy Express is expanding and growing at a rapid pace, and we are pleased to partner with them to ensure they have exactly what they need, when they need it. As Mark and his team continue to expand into new markets and new opportunities, we will be here, ready to support them. It is an honor to be invited to the open house, and I am excited to meet his customers and employees in person.”
“We are expecting visitors from the Lexington, Louisville and Cincinnati area at our open house event, and through our partnership with Graphco I understand that we will have visitors from around the Midwest as well.” States Mark Hicks. “This event will help us spread the word that high technology printing including LED UV coatings, instant curing of plastics, clears and other special effects is now available at Copy Express so we hope to see lots of our friends at our Open House.”