The day before yesterday was delivered to the Imprimerie rochelaise a new konica Minolta AccurioPress C14000 . This digital printing machine is the second to be installed in the space of a year at the Charente-based company with 42 employees.
"The first digital press at the print shop, an AccurioPress C6100, arrived during the 2020 containment. It started up in full covid and immediately met the demand for very short runs." remembers Dominique Boucard, the director of the LeNouvelr group, which includes Imprimerie Rochelle .
The printer details: "We had estimated that we would have to print 1 million sheets per year, and after 10 months, we reached 2 million! We needed to invest in a big sister to increase production." He chose the AccurioPress C14000, which prints 140 pages per minute in A4.
Konica Minolta's C6100 a strong asset during the health crisis
However, the success of digital printing corresponds to a shift from offset printing. "Today, the quantity of printed material has been halved for certain types of documents (industrial brochures, tourist brochures, etc.). And covid has accelerated this decrease. Today, customers are consuming just the right amount."
Thanks to this first AccurioPress, the printing company, which saw its sales drop by 25 percent in 2020 to ?6.5 million, managed to retain half a percentage point of gross margin for the year.
Problem-free transfer of files between offset and digital
And when customers need larger print runs, offset takes over without difficulty. The group's director was keen to have color consistency across all NouvelR printing sites. "The print output of the C6100 and C14000 is very, very close to offset. And one person manages the coloring on all of the group's printed papers, which allows for file transfers within the group."
Konica AccurioPress C14000, a press with a cutter
In addition to the quality and speed of the Konica C14000, Dominique Boucard particularly appreciates one of its new features: "It is equipped with a three-cutter. The printed product comes out cut and ready to be sent to the customer, whether it is a leaflet, a flyer, a poster or even business cards. It saves us an additional operation.
And new investments in sight
In a few months, the printing plant should also receive a new 4-color offset press with more varnish to replace the Roland 900.
And the company manager is thinking about a new digital press, this time in B2 format. "The two Konica Minolta presses should be running 2x8 by June, and will no longer be able to meet our needs. With this press, we could run four pages."
"All the lights are green!"
He continues: "We had a very good first quarter. The second will be very, very good. Business has picked up well. We have felt it throughout the group, not just in La Rochelle. All the indicators are green!"
