The floor

The plant, department by department

A printer's promise is only as good as the machine that has to keep it. What follows is the actual floor: what is installed, what it does, and why it changes what we can commit to.

Nothing here is outsourced. Plate to press to punch to binding to sorting bay — a job never leaves the building between the proof you sign and the pallet you receive.

17 machines and systems, across three departments.

Department 01

Pre-Press

Where the surprises get removed — before a plate is ever imaged.

Kodak
Kodak Thermal CTP
Computer-to-plate imaging with Kodak's thermal system. Film is out of the chain entirely, so a plate is a direct, repeatable rendering of the approved file — and a reprint six months later images identically.
- Kodak thermal imaging system
- Direct computer-to-plate
- Repeatable across reruns
GMG
GMG Colour Management
GMG holds every job to one measured colour target, from the proof through to the last signature. It is the reason a catalogue reprinted in March matches the one printed in September.
- GMG colour management system
- Closed-loop colour solution
- Profiled per substrate
Epson
Epson Proofing System
The Star Proof digital proofing system on an Epson inkjet engine produces a press-quality contract proof. What you sign is what the press is measured against.
- Star Proof digital proofing
- Epson inkjet printer with proofer software
- Contract-grade colour accuracy
X-Rite
X-Rite Colour Inspection
X-Rite's colour quality inspection solution measures rather than eyeballs, giving precise, consistent and reliable sample measurement against the signed proof.
- X-Rite colour quality inspection
- Spectrophotometric measurement
- BenQ hardware-calibrated reference monitor
JINGWEI
JINGWEI Digital Cutting Table
A structural dummy cut on the JINGWEI table turns a packaging idea into something you can hold, fill and drop-test in days — no steel rule die, no tooling commitment.
- JINGWEI digital cutting technology
- Sample maker for structural dummies
- Rapid packaging development
Arden
Arden Prepress & Screening Software
Arden structural design software with the latest screening and trapping tools. Nesting, trapping and imposition are decided before the file is ever imaged, which is where most press-side surprises come from.
- Arden prepress software (2018)
- Latest screening and trapping software
- Imposition and nesting

Department 02

Press

Komori offset for the volume, digital for the short runs, variable data for everything personalised.

Komori
Komori 4-Colour Offset Press
The workhorse. Auto plate mounting and automatic wash-up cut make-ready to minutes, so short and medium runs stay economical without giving up offset quality. The first of these arrived in 2005; the second in 2008.
- Komori 4-colour offset
- Auto plate mounting
- Automatic wash-up
- Two presses on the floor
Komori
7-Colour Printing Machine
Seven units means process CMYK plus spot brand colours and an inline coating in a single pass — no second run, no second chance to drift out of register.
- 7 colour units
- CMYK plus spot brand colours
- Inline coating in one pass
Rutherford
Rutherford Auto Ink Control
Ink keys set from the file and corrected on the fly. Density holds across the run instead of wandering between the first sheet and the last.
- Rutherford auto ink control system
- Density held across the run
- Closed-loop correction
Konica Minolta
Konica Minolta Digital Press
For short quantity commercial printing — pilots, regional variants, pitch samples and reorders that never justified a plate.
- Konica Minolta digital printer
- Short-run commercial printing
- No plate cost
Autoprint
Autoprint Variable-Data Printer
High-speed variable date and data production printing — batch numbers, expiry dates, serials and per-dealer imprints applied at production speed.
- Autoprint high speed variable date printer
- Batch, expiry and serial coding
- Production-speed personalisation

Department 03

Post-Press & Finishing

Punch, strip, emboss, foil, coat, bind, sort — the half of the job most buyers never think about.

Bobst-class
Auto Punching Unit
Die punching, stripping and embossing in a single pass at an average of 4,500 impressions per hour. One pass means one registration — the emboss lands where the die cut says it should.
- 4,500 impressions per hour
- Punch, strip and emboss in one pass
- Single registration
Autoprint
UV Coating Machine
Spot UV and drip-off effects from Auto Print. Gloss against matt on the same sheet is what makes a pack read as considered rather than merely printed.
- Spot UV
- Drip-off effects
- Full-sheet UV varnish
In-house
Offline Foiling Unit
Hot foil stamping in metallics and holographics, run offline so the foiling schedule never becomes the press schedule's bottleneck.
- Hot foil stamping
- Metallic and holographic foils
- Runs independent of the press line
In-house
Blanking System
Automated blank separation straight off the punching unit — cartons come out counted and stacked rather than hand-stripped.
- Automated blank separation
- Counted and stacked output
- Feeds the folder-gluer directly
In-house
Binding Line
Perfect binding, saddle stitching, section sewing and wiro, all on site — a book or a magazine never leaves the building to be finished.
- Perfect binding
- Saddle stitch and section sewing
- Wiro and spiral
In-house
ISO Sorting Bay
The last gate before dispatch, run to ISO guidelines: every carton sorted, counted and checked against the signed proof before it is packed.
- Operated to ISO guidelines
- 100% sort against the signed proof
- Counted and packed for dispatch