Denny Bros Add More Heidelberg Firepower

Commenting on the reasons behind the purchase, Colin Hunt, Production Director at Denny Bros, said: “Our existing SM74-6 had been running for many years, and was beginning to show signs of age. Due to its build year is was also very limited with regard to computer controlled automation. We sought to update the machine to a newer model, though we have a history of favouring good quality used equipment rather than having to invest in new equipment all of the time. We believe that it offers extremely good value for money.

“Our needs, however, were very specific: a 6-colour Heidelberg machine with perfector, in 2 over 4 configuration: it wasn’t necessarily a huge surprise to find that the marketplace didn’t have anything to offer us. DPM, however, did find one for us, though it was located in South Korea – prohibiting our usual pre-purchase visit to see the machine in action, and do our own assessment on the product.”

Denny Bros paid for a full service engineer’s report on the product, which highlighted a few issues with this 2006 model, including the fact that it has been converted into to run UV inks. Denny Bros negotiated for the conversion to be reversed, and had an IR dryer added to the press.

“Once the machine had been imported we needed DPM to provide a full hand-cleaning service of the machine. Our label products are destined for the food and pharmaceutical markets: machine cleanliness is critical to our business,” confirmed Colin Hunt. “At this stage the fine detail of the machine was also able to be assessed.

“Once we were ready to receive the machine at our Bury St Edmunds factory, DPM and its DMD engineering division were able to de-commission our existing machine, and build up the replacement press in exactly the same position in our production facility.

“As is usually the case, even with a new machine, there were some teething troubles, but DPM were on hand to adjust the machine and monitor performance.”

Has the overall purchase process impressed Colin Hunt? “For a 2006 model with just 12 million impressions, providing the exact configuration that we needed, the purchase has been a significant financial success. Whilst the price of new equipment is very negotiable right now, we still purchased at significantly lower than the cost of new equipment. That investment means that our hourly rate is kept within sensible limits, and ensures that we can continue to provide good, competitive pricing to our customers; an essential ingredient in the markets that we sell our products into.

“As a piece of printing hardware, this machine will hold its value for many years – which is something that you can never say about a new machine.”

The press will be used to produce the leaflet pages of Denny Bros Fix-a-Form products, which are provided to customers in the both the food and pharmaceutical markets.

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