• 

 

The Company.

 

Grenaways Office Supplies Ltd of Stoke on Trent has 12 staff and a wide range of customers largely in North Staffordshire and Cheshire. Its print division includes comprehensive design, pre-press, press and finishing equipment, and its capability includes the management of variable data multipart direct mail campaigns.

 

Sanxin is a serious challange to European and Japenese manufacturers.

 

Grenaways has become one of the latest companies to install a Sanxin press, the Chinese-built machine which is providing a serious challenge to European and Japanese press manufacturers as a low-cost, high-quality alternative. A two colour YK522 machine has now been installed at the company’s 4,000 sq ft works by UK supplier Printers Superstore.

 

Although most of its turnover still comes from the office supplies business which has been the main Grenaways activity since its foundation in 1906, its print division is growing rapidly. "We installed a digital press a couple of years ago, and we’re now updating our litho equipment. Some people think you have to be a digital printer or a litho printer, but we think the two technologies complement each other, we are aiming to offer a full service and there are jobs suited to litho but not digital, and vice versa."

 

Why the choice was a Sanxin YK522.

 

Director David Urwin says that simple economics led to the Sanxin investment. “When we looked at the litho machines available in our price range, the choice was between a brand new Sanxin press or a secondhand machine between 5 and 10 years old. It seemed too good to be true but when we saw the press we could immediately see how well engineered it is. In our opinion it’s up there with the big boys in terms of build quality.”

 

One YK522 replaced 2 GTO's

 

The YK522 replaces one of two single colour GTOs. “We wanted a two colour press to increase capacity but also to handle a wider range of colour work. We have found that the registration is excellent on the Sanxin, we can load plates very quickly using the semi automatic plate changer and run full colour work easily. We are very pleased with it, and where we had technical issues we found Printers Superstore responded well and dealt with them professionally.”