A few days ago, a new sheet-fed offset press, a new Heidelberg XL 75 4-colour plus varnish, arrived at Imprimerie Peau located in Berd'huis in the Orne. But the company, which has a turnover of 7.6 million euros, has made many other investments in recent weeks, particularly in digital machines.
The number of files processed digitally in the print shop is rising sharply
The printing company, which produces dosage forms, blister cards, travel brochures and high-end communication, has increased its purchases of digital machines, both for printing and finishing.
"We have been digitally equipped for many years, but we are going to equip ourselves even more because it is getting bigger and bigger, explains Guillaume Sauget, the head of the Peau printing company. Last year, digital accounted for one out of every two files and 20% of revenues, whereas in 2018, it accounted for 30% of work and barely 10% of revenues."
Digital technology makes it possible to meet the demand for small quantities with high added value, a demand that has been on the rise for several years, according to the printer.
3D gilding and varnishing with JetVarnish 3D
The printing company invested in a JetVarnish 3D from MGI with the Foil module that arrived in January. Until now it had an MGI machine making 2D varnish. "We have a market in finishing with UV varnish. With this model equipped with digital hot foil stamping, we're going to take advantage of this to develop gilding."
In fact, the printer has already produced invitation cards for the launch of a top-of-the-range vehicle with its two new finishes, 3D varnish and gilding.
From the 8-layer with the new inline printing and finishing press
And at the end of December, the Xerox iGen 4 digital press gave way to the top model, the Xerox iGen 5, with a new digital binder system to be installed, a CP Bourg binder. It will replace the aging machine park. "These two pieces of equipment will allow us to make an 8-page online book instead of a 4-page one." indicates Guillaume Sauget.
The beginning of the year was also marked by the 20% expansion of the printing plant site: the printing and finishing workshop was increased by 500m 2 to gain comfort.
While these investments are numerous, they are not exceptional for the printer. "We're used to investing a lot at the Peau printing house. We regularly renew our machine park to have recent machines, guaranteed and with good resale values."
