Chorley-based NB Colour has installed a reconditioned HP Indigo 7600 press to improve productivity without increasing costs. It replaces an older series 2 Indigo 5500.
NB Colour carries out commercial work for a mix of clients that includes advertising agencies, end-users and public sector bodies such as councils, colleges and universities, strategically built up over the 10 years since the global financial crash.
The company had specialised in high quality litho print, using stochastic screening for much of its work and bought a series 2 Indigo 5500 machine in 2008 to offer similar quality in digital print. A steady increase in the volume of digitally printed work, particularly since 2011–12, meant that productivity issues with the Indigo 5500 were becoming significant.
The decision to replace the 5500 with a reconditioned series 3 7600, sold by HP as a ‘7R’, in December 2018 meant that a number of factors that were slowing down production are now avoided.
‘The blanket lasts longer and is faster to change over,’ explained managing director Doug Nelson, ‘ and there’s no oil change or need to drain off at intervals.’ While Mr Nelson says that the quality is similar, the combination of the reconditioned model’s higher throughput at 1700 duplexed four-colour pages an hour (compared to 1000) and reduced interruptions for maintenance means that it’s achieving about twice the overall throughput. He reports that a short-run brochure job that required 62,000 sheets ‘just flew through’.
A lower click charge meant that the total costs of the purchase and running of the newer machine are the same as for the older one. ‘It was a no-brainer and we’re pleased we’ve done it,’ confirmed Mr Nelson, adding, ‘the quality is fantastic on uncoated papers’.
