PERFORMA

A pioneering spirit is not the preserve of big business, German printshop Franz Lovischach in Lüdenscheid, with its payroll of six, can testify. In 1966 it was just the fourth in the country to install a Berthold Diatype filmsetter and in March 2006 it flicked the switch on the first KBA Performa 66 in Germany – and the third worldwide – to sport an inline coater.

When Jürgen Dietzel took over the business in 1965 from the daughter of the eponymous founder, he was faced with the choice of buying new type for the existing letterpress equipment or making the bold transition to phototype. He opted to install one of the first Diatype machines and switch to offset, shrugging off the jibes of a few suppliers who thought he was mad “to photograph type”. Composition and layout are still carried out in-house, but a full-blown digital pre-press has since been added to supply plates for the press fleet consisting of a two-colour Hamada, a monochrome Quickmaster and the new five-colour KBA Performa 66 with perfector after the first unit and a coater in the fifth.

The Performa 66 five-colour is the press department’s prime production tool

It has become almost a tradition to go for Czech-built presses, and not just because the company founder was Czech. Adast equipment was followed by a two-colour and later a four-colour Polly press, and the Performa is built by KBA’s Czech subsidiary, KBA-Grafitec. 70-year-old Jürgen Dietzel and his son Alexander have a long and cordial relationship with DMS, their local press dealer. As a result technical glitches can often be sorted out over the phone. “DMS’s can-do approach appealed to us right from the start,” says Jürgen Dietzel, and Alexander adds: “Polly and Performa users often ring each other up to compare notes. We are a close-knit community.”

An interesting product palette: mini-manuals are just one of Lovischach’s specialities

New applications to attract new clients

The Performa 66 was bought so the company could expand its customer base by offering a broader range of applications without increasing the payroll. If there is too much work for the company’s one and only press operator then Alexander Dietzel provides hands-on assistance. The press configuration was chosen to allow four or five colours to be printed and a protective coating added. The convertible dampener/coater is the ideal solution. Alexander Dietzel is still busy experimenting with the new Performa, but Lovischach is already a specialist for scented coatings. “We must differentiate ourselves from internet printers,” he explains, and with this is mind has added metallic inks and inline die-cutting in the fifth unit. A new type of coating will also be added soon.

Jürgen (l) and Alexander Dietzel, pictured here at the Performa 66 console, head the company as it approaches its centenary

The SRA2 (26in) Performa’s perfecting ability was a cogent argument in its favour, and a feature that is used virtually every day. And with just one press operator, extensive automation was a must. “The press has just about every whistle and bell we could wish for,” says Alexander Dietzel: diagonal register, sheet travel monitoring, automatic wash-ups for the blankets and inking rollers, a GrafiControl console and Techkon densitometry, to name but a few. Another must, in view of the long print runs and low headroom, was ink temperature control.

Press operator Martin Homberg was already a big fan of Polly presses. The automated features of the new Performa 66 now make work even more enjoyable

Mini instruction manuals

In addition to short-run commercials such as catalogues and posters, Lovischach has another string to its bow: mini instruction manuals – from a minimum format of 70 x 70mm (2¾in) to a maximum page count of 400 and a maximum run length of 100,000 copies – for local manufacturers of electrical appliances. These present something of a challenge, especially since they are finished in-house. Folding 350 x 350mm (13¾in) into 70 x 70mm copies is an art in itself. Some copies are even smaller, so the gang stitchers and folder-gluers have had to be modified accordingly.

Metallic and scented coatings are another of Lovischach’s specialities, and will soon be joined by inline die-cutting and others

Lovischach’s activities extend beyond pre-press, press and finishing. Although it is the oldest printing company in Lüdenscheid, dating back to 1908, it has been an early adopter of new technology. Alongside creating corporate image products it also programs software for internet shops. And in the next few weeks it is adding a personalised direct mail service, complete with fulfilment.

A creative family enterprise, Druckerei Franz Lovischach is one of the oldest printing businesses in Lüdenscheidt

Website: www.lovischach.de