GRONHI FITS THE BILL

Richardson Printing of Lowestoft, Suffolk has become the latest buyer of a Hans-Gronhi Chinese-built press from UK and Ireland distributor Printers Superstore. The company has taken delivery of a brand new GH522NP, a two colour B3 machine with numbering and perforating.  According to Partner John Richardson, the press fits perfectly into a niche between B2 litho and small format digital.

“Our core production is on two five colour B2 machines, but we needed something to handle smaller formats, often in odd sizes between B3 and SRA5. Consequently one of the first things we looked at was the Gronhi’s ability to change paper size quickly and run small sheets effectively,” says Mr Richardson.  “Also, we have a sister company, Micropress in Halesworth, which is primarily a large B1 printer but also has a large digital department with a good B3 market share. They send us work which is more suited to B3 litho machines, so what we needed was a machine to do what digital can’t. In the case of the Gronhi, this means a lot of two colour pantone or metallic inks, often business cards, stationery or envelopes, and also numbering and perforating work, such as NCR sets or invoices”

Having identified the requirement for a two colour B3 machine, Mr Richardson considered the options from the ‘usual suspects’ of well-known press manufacturers. “We have always run Heidelberg B3 machines but when we saw the Hans Gronhi at IPEX, it was obviously a better choice,” he says. “It’s clearly a robust, well-engineered machine which is at least equal to the rest in terms of technology. The difference is the price tag, we are talking almost half the cost of other machines with comparable specifications. These days, because margins are so tight, we have to cut our cloth accordingly. Gronhi is the right machine at the right price at the right time.”

The GH522NP is equipped with semi-automatic plate changing and a range of modern features. “We especially like the stream feeder and dampening system, and it has a powerful inking system” says Mr Richardson. “It’s also very straightforward to operate, so there’s no real learning curve for our minders to go through.”

Richardson Printing was founded in 1982, and describes itself as a general commercial printer. It has 30 staff and 8000 sq ft premises. Its customers are a mixture of local businesses and London- based agencies and brokers – and it also has a good reputation as a trade printer, not only because of its versatile litho line-up, but also because it has a strong finishing capability, including in-house laminating and die cutting.