RMGT, manufacturer of the leading 8-up sheetfed press in North America, this past summer installed two new offset machines to state-government agencies in Austin, TX. In June, a 29-inch, four-color 790 model perfecting press was delivered to the Texas Health and Human Services (HHS) in-plant facility. Two months later, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) took delivery of a four-color, 25.2x37" RMGT 940ST offset press with an LED-UV curing unit, replacing its 4-color Ryobi 754G XL, which was seven years old.
“These recent press installations, at two autonomous facilities, offer concrete proof that offset printing is far from dead at in-plant shops,” believes Kian Hemmen, sales director of RMGT Print & Finishing Solutions. “Challenged by labor shortages from staff retirements, many in-plant operations are realizing the efficiencies that advanced automation and larger sheet sizes can bring. The return on investment is there.”
Texas DOT sees benefit of LED-UV curing
One of the outstanding features of the new RMGT 940ST is the LED-UV curing unit, which instantly dries printed sheets. “It doesn’t matter how much ink coverage we have. We print it and it’s dry. The job can move immediately to the bindery,” remarks Art Garcia, Production Manager, Texas DOT. “Additionally, there are no worries about ink offset on the sheets, so the operator can let printed sheets pile higher without having to stop periodically to remove them. Instant drying also means the press does not need to use powder, which reduces clean-up time. We don’t have to do as much maintenance,” affirms Garcia.
Another major improvement with the RMGT 9 Series press is the larger sheet size. The new press enables TxDOT to run 16-page and even 32-page signatures, so it can take on more publications work. Garcia estimates productivity has increased 50% just because of the larger sheet size.
With a larger sheet size enabling the shop to expand the types of work it can produce, and an LED-UV curing unit that instantly dries printed sheets, the new 15,000-sheet-per-hour (sph) press has stepped up productivity at TxDOT’s 130,000-square-foot plant. Substantial production efficiencies are what led both agencies to justify procuring conventional printing equipment.
More four-color work at Health and Human Services
After operating the B2 size perfector, which includes a coater, for more than 180 days, HHS Director Paul Kida and his 24 employees like what they’ve seen so far -- especially in terms of speedy makeready times and overall production efficiency. Replacing a 30-year-old Heidelberg press, the RMGT 790 runs up to 16,000 8½-x-11” sph in HHS’s 38,000-square-foot plant.
HHS“We are producing more color work,” Kida said, “and the coating unit is a new capability.” He estimates that 4-color process (CMYK) work now represents some 40% of the shop’s monthly page volume, which typically exceeds 6 million impressions. HHS prints products such as brochures, booklets, posters, pocket folders, calendars, presentation materials and mailers. “A lot of our informational pieces require attention-grabbing photograph reproduction,” Kida added. “That’s where the color capabilities come into play.”
“Automatic plate changing as well as auto blanket and ink-roller cleaning expedite the 790’s makeready times,” noted RMGT’s Hemmen. “In addition, programmable inking speeds up tone adjustments.” The press also features continuous dampening and print-density control systems.
Kida admits to considering digital press options before recommitting to an offset solution. “We did our homework,” he shared, which included weighing pros and cons of the latest production inkjet printing technologies. As part of HHS’s due diligence process, he visited TxDOT to see a RMGT 7 offset model in action. “I also checked out an eight-color version at a local commercial printer,” he said. “Both sites offered positive feedback about their respective RMGT presses.”
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