PERFORMA

Following a fact-finding tour through the USA, Alkemade Printing’s owner and managing director Rémon Alkemade faced a dilemma: should he invest in a high-performance digital colour printer or go for a new litho printing press? His management team helped him reach a decision by urging the need to walk the talk in terms of quality, which meant opting for the press. And not just any press but a four-colour coater version of the Performa 74.

Based in Lisse, south of Amsterdam Schiphol airport, Alkemade Printing is typical of many print shops in the Netherlands: founded by the parents of the present managing directors or owners a quarter of a century ago,21 employees on the payroll and a complete range of services, from pre-press to post-press, under one roof. Rémon Alkemade joined his parents’ company in 1996 after taking a diploma in graphic art at the technical college (HTS) in Tilburg. In 2003 he became the new owner. “When I was at primary school, all my friends wanted to be fire-men or lorry drivers. But I always used to say that I wanted to be a graphic artist like my father. ”Nonetheless, Rémon carefully weighed up all the arguments for and against following in his parents’ footsteps: “I knew I would be stepping into a ready-made job, and I kept wondering whether it might not be more interesting to work elsewhere. But once I had made the decision all my doubts evaporated. Now I can’t imagine amore satisfying and rewarding occupation.”

The Performa 74 four-colour coater press is what Rémon Alkemade’s father always dreamed of having

Well considered

But however satisfying and rewarding printing may be as an occupation, it is not a bed of roses, and Alkemade Printing had its share of ups and downs. Rémon’s parents set up in business in 1983 at a time when the printing industry was in recession. The Alkemades persevered nonetheless, building up the business until there were sixteen staff on the payroll. But when Rémon took over the company, he found that history was repeating itself. “That was a really bad time, and I had to consider carefully what direction I wanted to take. Selling print via the internet seemed a good idea, but there you’re competing against price-breakers. I decided to conduct a survey among our existing and former customers. And the result? They didn’t come to us because we offered the lowest price but because we delivered high-quality work punctually, and used our initiative. So we focused on the sestrengths.

Delivered in August and running ever since – the Performa 74 at Alkemade Printing in Lisse

”He continues: “At that time al ot of advertising agencies were laying off staff, so there was a wealth of valuable know-how going to waste – at a time when digital PDF files were beginning to be widely adopted. I acted as consultant to many of these agencies and they have remained loyal to this day.”

Just do it

Alkemade was asked whether the firm created websites and could provide digital printing services. “Naturally we can offer such services, but they are not the only ones. I realised that, year on year, the demand for digital print was rising faster than for conventional print. So I went on a fact-finding tour to the United States and was hugely impressed by the high-performance colour printing systems I saw. They were part of a network and delivered fantastic prints in a superb quality. When I got back to Lisse I called my management team together and suggested we offer a similar service. The team comprised production manager Sylvain Louis and plant manager Ron van Berkel.

Sylvain Louis is delighted with the Performa 74’s level of automation

”At that time Alkemade was running three printing presses: a two-colour B2 (29in), a relatively new two-colour B3 (20in) and a four-colour B3. My managers said: “Look, we’ve invested an awful lot of money in CTP, and our workflow is fine. The finishing department is also running well. What’s missing is printing capacity. Virtually all the work we print is four-colour, so we have to run a second pass just about every time. And if we want to coat the sheets a third pass is necessary. But our customers want fast turnaround as well as a high print quality, so if we’re going to invest in new kit, we suggest we go for a four-colour B2 press with a coater. We’re familiar with this type of machine and can earn good money with it.” They were right. And a digital printing system can still be added at a later date. Following this strategic decision Rémon Alkemade soon made up his mind what he would do. “Wifac in Mijdrecht had supplied the CTP system and one of our press operators had worked for twenty years with a KBA press. So we thought, why not order a Performa 74 from KBA? Why go for something complex, when it can be so simple? Wifac submitted an acceptable offer and we took a small team to KBA’s production plant in Radebeul. We were stunned by the quality of the engineering. Also, the Performa is out-standing value for money. The press was delivered in August and has run almost continuously ever since.

Operators at the GrafiControl console have both the press and the print quality firmly under control

”Two presses gone

One of the Performa’s many assets is its CIP4 compatibility. “That will do to be getting on with,” says Rémon Alkemade. “I’m still waiting until presses can be embedded in a network as easily as digital printing systems. CIP4 offers this capability for production, but in future I would like to have much more real-time management data from the press. This would enable us to see which orders offer the biggest profit margins and which ones tend to consume more time and money than has been scheduled, with out this being obvious. ”Following the installation of the Performa 74, two presses became superfluous and were rapidly disposed of. In addition to the Performa there is now just the one four-colour B3 press. “Our three press operators work four days a week, so I have twelve printing days a week, which is more than enough to keep the two presses running at capacity. Not long ago my father dropped by on a brief visit and said that his dream press was now standing in the pressroom. He had never been able to afford the investment. As he said, it’s easy to dream of buying new presses, but first of all you have to earn the money. With the Performa74 we’ll have no trouble doing that.”

“We deliberately opted for a printing press and not a digital printing system. ”Sylvain Louis, Rémon Alkemade and Jaap van Dam (l-r) of Alkemade Printing

First Performa four-colour coater press in the Netherlands

Alkemade Printing in Lisse opted for a Performa 74 four-colour coater press with a maximum rated hourly output of 13,000 sheets measuring 520 x 740mm (201/2x 29in). Standard press features include an automated washing system, nonstop feeder and delivery, and a CIP4interface. A semi-automatic plate change takes less than 60 seconds. The print parameters for as many as 4,000 repeat jobs can be stored at the GrafiControl console, where the press operator can also keep a weather eye on registration, control the colour and set paper thickness. The settings for the next job can be keyed in while the current job is still running.

Just as modern on the outside: Alkemade Printing in Lisse, Netherlands