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Me & My: KM AccurioLabel 190

Rahul Kumar — Mon, 10 Jun 2019 10:17:00

Please describe your company.
Noida-based Hora Art Centre is specialises in label printing and commercial printing applications, especially for home appliances.

When did you start to use the Konica Minolta AccurioLabel 190 digital label printing press?
We installed the AccurioLabel 190 (AL 190) from Konica Minolta in June last year.

What properties of the press do you like?
The SEAD image processing, a Konica Minolta proprietary technology, which ensures extremely accurate image processing and formation for industrial printing requirements. This allows even small barcodes to be printed without blurring. I also like the operational flexibility that the AL 190 enables. Its low cost of operations, minimal wastage, and consistent performance from the first print ensure profitability even for small-lot print jobs.

Did you look at other similar printing equipment?
We did look at several other digital label presses before choosing AL 190. At this moment, only Konica Minolta has a digital label printing machine, which falls under mid size segment with right entry level cost.

Why did you decide to opt for the AL 190 digital label printing press? How are you benefiting?
We chose the machine because it perfectly suited our business needs and allowed us to deliver superior quality prints, at speed and at scale, with better overall productivity and profitability.

Are there other features which help you in your print production?
Main features are simple to operate by one person, consistent and accurate colour reproduction, vivid colour gamut, support on variety of media, easy changeover between two jobs, imposition support and fast turnaround of short lot production jobs..

For what applications is the AL 190 digital label printing press used?
It is perfectly suited for short-run print jobs and jobs that require variable data printing. This includes labels and packages for liquors/beverages, industrial products, medicines, cosmetics, foodstuffs, household products and others.

Is there anything that you do not like or can be improved about this?
I honestly wish I could highlight something that needs improvement. I feel that, with the AL 190, Konica Minolta has underpromised and over-delivered. Within very short span of about one year, we have crossed our production target to above 50% level than original estimation.

If there’s a critical print job that has come your way, would you rely on this to see it through?
Yes, definitely. The AccurioLabel 190 has met and exceeded all our expectations and requirements thus far. It would definitely be the first option for us to complete any critical new-age print jobs that come our way.

Would you say that it offers value for money? Please explain how?
Yes, it definitely offers great value for money. Its introduction cost is reasonably low, which means we didn’t have to break the bank to install the machine. On the other hand, its operational costs are quite low, while the output is comparable to high-end label printers.

Were there any difficulties experienced during operating the print enhancement machine?
No, there were no problems. The machine is designed for seamless workflows and is extremely easy to use, even for first-time users.

Who do you think digital printing equipment is right for?
Small-lot printing, VDP, and barcode printing should opt for the AccurioLabel 190.

Under what circumstances would you recommend it to others?
All circumstances. This machine is perfect for any printing business looking to improve its profitability by expanding its portfolio of offerings to include new-age label printing jobs.

Conclusion

User’s verdict
Speed    *****
Quality *****
Reliability *****
Value for money    *****

Supplier’s response
Vijay Kamat, National Product Manager – Industrial Print, Konica Minolta Business Solutions, “The shift towards short lot batch, ease of operations in production environment, and personalisation has led to a growing demand for differentiated label printing and packaging solutions in India. The AccurioLabel 190 is designed to cater to this exact need. It is extremely heartening to see future-oriented printing businesses like Hora Arts Press upgrading their operations with such new-age label printing and packaging solutions. We are delighted with the business growth that Hora Arts has registered since installing the AccurioLabel 190. It is indicative of the differentiation that this state-of-the-art product can deliver for other print and printing businesses across the country.”

Contact details
Vijay Kamat
vijay.kamat@konicaminolta.com
+91 92051 91317

Me and My - Ricoh Pro C 9110

Priya Raju — Thu, 13 Apr 2017 18:14:00

Describe your company.
Established in 2000, Om Namassivaya is a digital print house in Visakhapatnam (Vizag), which specialises in variable data printing in digital. Other bulk jobs, which the firm undertakes, includes commercial jobs from education, government and jobber segments.

When did you invest in the Ricoh Pro C 9110 machine?
We have been a Ricoh use since 2015. The first model we invested in was the Ricoh Pro 8120 in October 2015. Subsequently, we have also invested in the Ricoh Pro C 5100 in February 2016 and more recently in Vizag’s first Ricoh Pro C 9110 in November 2016.

What does the machine do?
We use the Ricoh Pro C 9110 for bulk jobs requiring variable data, photos and banner printing with resolutions of up to (1200x4800dpi). It enables us to print on substrates ranging from 60gsm to 400gsm duplex board. It is also equipped to automatically calibrate colours, which helps us deliver consistent output even when we run high volume jobs.

Why did you choose this particular machine?
The capability of the 9110 kit to print at high-speed, is one of its highlight, besides the quality of the output.

Did you look at any other similar machine?
We have been a Ricoh user for the past two years and have been comfortable using the machine.

What features of the machine do you particularly like?
The ability of the press to print on a duplex board along with quality and consistent colour output is what tilted us towards the Ricoh Pro C 9110.

Is there anything you wish it had that it doesn’t?
Not really. We invested in the machine after carefully studying it’s configuration and capabilities. We are happy with its performance.

How fast is it?
The machine can print at a speed of 130 pages per minute of size 13x19.2-inch (A5 size). It has proved to be a product-ive solution due to which our turnaround has improved. We are able to provide faster service to our clients.

How much time or money has it saved?
I would say the money saved is almost five times when you compare with the basic model. Thanks to the press’ speed, our time to market has improved substantially.

Would you say that it offers value for money?
Yes, this machine has helped us attract new customers and potentially increase business from existing ones by offering more options for their information. This machine has proved to be versatile and productive and hence offers, value for the money invested.

How was the installation process?
The installation process was smooth and Ricoh took total responsibility of the installation.

What about the pre- and after-sales service?
The service from the Ricoh team has been prompt and good. The team always ensures the service is quick and as per my expectations.

Who do you think is the machine right for?
Any digital print firm which caters to print jobs with lots of variable data printing with a quality output, should opt for this machine.

Under what circumstances would you invest in another such machine?
In future whenever the volume of jobs grows, we will definitely invest in another Ricoh machine.

Conclusion

User’s verdict
Speed *****
Quality *****
Reliability *****
Value for money *****

Supplier’s Response
Sambit Misra of Ricoh says, “Vizag-based Om Namassivaya’s investment in the Ricoh Pro C9110 emphasises the customer’s confidence towards Ricoh products and his affiliation to our service and support. In addition to offering stability, Ricoh products also offer the highest flexibility in terms of the variety of media which can be used. We constantly encourage our customers to not only print on paper but extend their services and print on substrates like non-tearable media, PVC, Pet, Tyvek, MetPet, among others. This installation establishes our theory that tier-II and tier-III cities have immense potential for growth.”

Contact
Sambit Misra
COO - PP Business,
Ricoh
sambit.misra@ricoh.co.in

Me and My - Morgana Digibook PUR 450

PrintWeek India — Fri, 07 Apr 2017 11:13:00

Describe your company?
Established in 1990, Kadam Digital Transprints is a Pune-based printing house that offers integrated services ranging from pre-press, print to post-press under one roof. We provide digital, offset as well as CTP, digital colour photo lab and a variety of binding and packaging solutions.

When and why did you choose this particular machine?
We invested in the machine in July 2016. We opted for PUR to cater to the needs of the customers who nowadays print mostly on art paper, texture paper, metallic paper, non-tearable paper, etc. Also, PUR offers advantages over the traditional EVA adhesives. For example, when inks, coatings or digital print toners are present in the spine area these can compromise the strength of traditional hotmelt binding, whereas PUR is resistant to this.

What does the machine do?
The Morgana Digibook 450 PUR, the top-end model, is a single clamp perfect binding machine using PUR (Polyurethane Reactive) glue. We use the machine for binding books with either soft or hard cover.

Did you look at any other similar machine?
Yes, we did look at some options from Welbound, Horizon, C P Bourg, JMD, among others.

Why did you make the purchase?
The deal clincher for the purchase was the precise quality output which it produced and also the patented hermetically sealed PUR application system. It offers numerous advantages and is equipped with automatic glue cut-off and automatic cleaning and sealing of the glue head.

What features of the machine do you particularly like?
The closed glue system was one of the important features. Apart from that, the speed of the machine, automatically adjustable cover feeding along with scoring, paper chip extractor, auto glue head cleaning were some of the attractive features.

Is there anything you wish it had that it doesn’t?
I think the auto jogger, where the book block would be automatically jogged and then fed to the machine after removing the air in between the pages would have been a useful addition. This would have resulted in having a semi-automatic feeding.

How fast is it?
The quoted speed of the machine considering ideal factors is up to 450 books per hour. But we have been able to achieve a practical speed of around 350 books per hour.

How much time or money has it saved?
It definitely saves a lot of time as steps like creasing/scoring, etc is done online ensuring a better throughput and in turn, saves money.

Would you say that it offers value for money?
Yes, it does offer value for money for printers and customers who expect quality and precision in their jobs.

What about the pre- and after-sales service?
The pre- and post-sales for Morgana is taken care by Malhotra Graphics who has given excellent support while making the purchase decision as well as after the installation of the machine. They have a set of trained engineers to take care of the technical support too.

Were there any difficulties experienced during the installation or after?
The installation process was quite smooth and since this was the first machine to be installed in India, engineers from its headquarters were here to supervise the installation process.

Who do you think is the machine right for?
The machine is suitable for the digital as well as offset printers who print and bind on a variety of stocks. It is especially ideal for digital print houses where wastages are a very important factor. Today with this machine I can bind a single copy of a book without any wastage.

Under what circumstances would you invest in another such machine?
As we grow and if we find a bottleneck in our perfect binding operations, that will be the time to invest in another machine.

Conclusion

User’s verdict
Speed *****
Quality *****
Reliability *****
Value for money *****

Supplier’s Response
The Digibook 450 PUR binder, the top-end model by Morgana is ideal for short to medium runs to produce perfectly bound books for high-end items such as photo albums, coffee table books, etc. The machine offers Kadam Digital with enhanced flexibility and the ability to run a range of applications. The machine can be operated in manual as well as the automatic mode and can bind books with spine thickness up to 50mm at a speed of up to 450 books per hour. As Kadam Digital caters to the digital print and photo album jobs, the Digibook 450 machine has proven to be a perfect fit for the organisation.

Contact
Sanjay Malhotra
CEO, Malhotra Graphics
sanjay@malhotragraphics.com

Me & My - GMG Bundle Pack

Priya Raju — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 11:15:31

Describe your company...
Dhote Offset Technokrafts is a print solutions provider company, catering to activities from design to despatch for print merchandising. Our company is committed to providing quality print products and personalised service to our customer delight.

What does the GMG colour management bundle pack - Colorserver Inkoptimiser and GMG Colorproof software do?
Colorserver is used to profile the offset machine’s dot gain curve for various substrates of paper to achieve similar results on all of them. Inkoptimizer reduces the grey content in the cyan, magenta and yellow without compromising on the colour saturation and compensates by adding it in the black channel. This gives a crisp image with sharp tones and reduces variation in the grey areas. The GMG Colorproof syncs the digital Epson printer to the offset printed sheet to a large extent for simple colour management.

When and why did you choose this particular software?
We invested in the software in the mid of 2015 after six months of trial. And only after being fully satisfied with the product and its deliverables I opted for the software.

Did you look at any other similar software?
We did try two software similar to GMG but were not happy with the final output in the grey and neutral areas.

Why did you make the purchase?
Being a print technologist I understand the difference between sheets printed on a good press as well as the one printed on a machine which has colour management workflow installed on a machine. Trust me, there is a huge difference in terms of consistency in quality.

What features do you particularly like?
A single feature can’t be discriminated. For me all the features are excellent.

Is there anything you wish it had that it doesn’t?
If some of the complicated transparency areas are not properly dealt with, the results are not as expected. A checklist has to be properly followed. These if automated in future can be eliminated.

How fast is it?
Colour management is a practice that needs to be followed religiously each day. It does not take any additional time which affects one’s productivity. In fact, using the software decreases the downtime of the machine by effectively getting the desired result in the first few sheets.

How reliable is it?
It has proven to be very reliable in terms of matching it to our Epson printer, which produces proofs of colour output which is almost 95% close to the offset print.

How easy is it to use?
It is a very simple software. A layman with a basic intellect can learn the process within a few days. One needs to follow the process of calibration and simple instructions every week.

How much time or money has it saved?
There are savings of three types: Colour matching saves valuable make-ready time, while the Inkoptimizer saves on an average of 12-14% of ink used. Finally, it saves anti set powder to almost 50% and blanket wash up to 25%.

Were there any difficulties experienced during the installation or after?
The installation and implementation were very smooth. The after sales service is excellent and most of the problems are solved on call.

Who do you think the software is right for?
The software definitely needs to be implemented by every print companies. It will definitely upgrade their print quality to the next level on the same old equipment. The only prerequisite is a good and well-maintained machine with a proper dot gain average.

Under what circumstances would you invest in another?
Yes, I would definitely invest in any upgrades or new software which will enhance our print quality.

Conclusion

User’s verdict

Speed ****
Quality *****
Reliability ****
Value for money *****

Supplier’s Response
Das Damodaran, technical sales manage at Percept Print Solutions, says, “Preciseness in colour reproduction is inevitable for Dhote Offset, as the firm caters to publishing houses as well as textile fashion businesses. The GMG colour management software has streamlined the processes at Dhote, and today is at par with the best in the industry. Once they receive a file from a client, they output a certified GMG proof from Epson and get the approval from the client. After the layout is completed, the imposed file is processed through the Colorserver-Inkoptimizer’s automated workflow for specific paper types and machine. Finally, the resultant PDF is used for plate outputting”.

Contact
Das Damodaran
+91 7303656777
Das@perceptprintsolutions.com