QWIKPRINT GOES FOR GRONHI GH525
all for the price of a used four colour
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The Company
Qwikprint has its origins in the early 1950s, but has been in the Waller family since 1962. The company has remained profitable despite the recent downturn, and has a current turnover of around £300,000pa. MD Ian Waller says “Margins are tight, but when you can buy equipment like the Gronhi press which brings so much for a low outlay, it’s possible to survive. Finance payments can bring a company down, so we try to reduce them and where possible avoid them altogether.”
Qwikprint is a general commercial printer which prints the full gamut of B3 work from stationery and forms to more sophisticated multipage and multicolour jobs, both to the trade and a range of end users in the Merseyside area. Mr Waller says the most important factor, apart from maintaining standards both in quality and turnround time, is the personal touch. “Our business relies on good customer service and personal relationships, but I’m afraid we don’t always get that from our equipment suppliers. In contrast Printers Superstore have been great from day one, and because of that we feel they will be there to look after us in the long term.”
GH525 replaces two machines
Qwikprint Ltd has installed a Hans Gronhi GH525. The deal was struck with UK supplier Printers Superstore at Ipex, and the brand new five colour B3 press has now replaced two two-colour Heidelberg machines at the company’s works in Bootle, Merseyside.
Mr Waller was looking to step up to a multicolour machine to increase capacity and gain the benefits of single-pass production, but initially was tempted by the offer of a used four colour machine. “Then along came Printers Superstore with a more tempting offer – a brand new five colour for around the same price,” he says.
Intrigued and impressed
Intrigued, Mr Waller went to see the GH525 in action at Printshop Direct Image of Leicester, who installed the same machine. “I was very impressed,” he says. “I am the type of printer who is interested in the detailed mechanics of a press, and it was obvious that the Gronhi machine was well engineered and robust. In my opinion it had all the necessary features a modern press needs, such as CIP off press controls and auto plate change, but none of the gimmicks it doesn’t need, such as over-reliance on pneumatics and electronics.”
Low power consumption
Another factor for Qwikprint when choosing the Gronhi machine was its low power consumption. “Of course we want to reduce long-term running costs, but we also like to do our bit for the environment. This press uses nearly half the power of some of its rivals. We are now running it with processless CtP plates, which in combination with the GH525 gives us a very ‘green’ workflow.”
