Business owners have to get information about market innovations from suppliers of consumables and equipment. But there are so many of them, and they are not always objective, because they are interested in selling you their own products. If only someone could systematise this knowledge and find the perfect model for your company!
Don’t rush to panic and close down if you find fatal market changes in your area. Let us look at your business from the outside, and we will find a solution that is just right for you.
Our project is dedicated to the inspection and optimisation of everything related to printing. The help we provide you with will be strictly individual: what works for one company may be unacceptable for another. It matters the market, the region, the qualifications of the staff and… the capabilities of your equipment.
We can provide you with business intelligence for your printing company, assess your company’s efficiency and optimise your production by replacing your equipment.
Let’s start with an assessment of your machine fleet and how to use it. We’ll check the efficiency of your staff with a stopwatch and make recommendations based on your product range.
It’s likely that one high-speed machine can replace three of your existing ones. We can help you sell your less efficient machines and replace them with machines that will save you money and time.
Some print shops rush to close when they see that older models no longer work. Don’t be the last of your competitors to notice a change in the market when it’s too late to make a change.
Our method for testing attractiveness and usability is based on a Likert scale and other authoritative methodologies, including the experience of researchers such as the Meyer Henschel Institute (Germany).
Based on our research, we will create a SWOT analysis of your print production, sales and customer relations. We will give you a list of recommendations for change and help you address your weaknesses.
There is no point in conducting a study of the current state of affairs in production without practical solutions to existing problems. In just a couple of months you will see real positive changes.
You want to buy a printing machine and have already found a suitable offer from a dealer. However, you don’t know what has happened to the machine in the past and what is hiding inside behind the beautiful pictures. Look at the pictures we took these pictures in different locations over a period of several months. All these, and many other problems after payment become the buyer’s headache.
The seller will definitely show you what you want to see. However, when you pay the money and the machine arrives at your print shop, there may be many troubles you didn’t even realise were there. Cinderella’s beautiful carriage turns into an unmoving pumpkin, and now you’ll have to think about where to get the money for repairs.
Book our independent inspection of the used machine before you pay for it.
No matter what model of used printing machine you choose, its condition will depend not so much on the reliability of the brand as on the attitude of the previous owner. Our inspection reduces the risk of future problems.
Printers have to get information about market innovations from suppliers of consumables and equipment. But they are not always objective, because they are interested in selling you their own products.
This is where our independent consultancy comes in. We can help you find your identity on the market, analyse your sales team’s KPIs, examine your company’s UX interface and help you launch new technology. Do you want to know the details?
Following the inspection, the customer will receive a certificate of inspection as well as a detailed report on each of the assemblies in PDF. Photos and videos will be available at the link.
In order to maintain confidentiality, the certificate is issued by machine model and serial number, without reference to the name of the printing house and the place of inspection. If the customer is a seller, he is free to pass the certificate to his potential buyer without disclosing the location of the machine.
The purchaser can request the authenticity of the issued certificate from us on the website. In doing so, we maintain the confidentiality of all parties.
In its long life, a popular used printing machinery like Heidelberg CD 102 or CD 74 changes several owners. Like a traveller, it may visit different countries or even continents. We cannot know how the previous owners dismantled the machine or how it was transported. Every disassembly and subsequent reassembly of a printing machine is a serious stress on the machinery.
I remember a Heidelberg CD 74 machine where the floor reinforcement was not made all around the machine. The machine was standing correctly, but its delivery would bounce when the speed was increased. Excessive vibration led to spontaneous loosening of nuts and uneven wear of gears!
Needless to say, this error leads to increased wear and tear on any machine, regardless of the manufacturer. No matter whether it’s a Heidelberg CD 102 or even Manroland Evolution, an incorrectly installed new machine quickly becomes a wreck. The owner thinks he got an unreliable machine and should look for an excellent Heidelberg XL 105, for example, which is sure to be more reliable.
Once the decision to sell is made, the owner usually stops investing in its condition. The equipment may be on the market for six months, or even longer. All this time, the machine is still holding up thanks to the reliability of the brand and the care of the staff.
When considering offers to buy offset printing machines on the secondary market, a buyer has to understand how much this machine deserves to be bought.
The key point before buying a printing machine is to assess its technical condition. Obviously, it is impossible to carry out a complete diagnosis of all assemblies, units, peripherals in a few hours. This would require several days and the availability of specialised equipment. In addition, prolonged shutdown of a printing machine in a print shop is not possible for commercial reasons.
So, what’s a buyer to do if they have a couple of hours to inspect a printing machine? All he can do is check the equipment visually, or with a printed test obtained from the internet.
But the problem is 99% of the tests that a potential buyer brings with him are intended to control the parameters that lie in the field of technology (control of dot gain, SLUR/doubling, trapping, streakmarks), etc. and are not an objective factor in assessing the technical (in particular, mechanical) condition of the printing press.
These printing of these control elements will tell you a lot about the technological process in a particular printing house, about the humidity conditions, about the selected inks and the qualification of the printer, but not about the real condition of the sheet-fed system of the printing machine.
Would a potential buyer be able to identify indirect equipment problems, such as those related to the flooring of a print shop?
Definitely not – the customer will see no more than 30 per cent of what our expert will notice. Whether you are purchasing a Heidelberg CD 102, Manroland 700 or KOMORI Lithrone, our inspection requires minimal time and money, but allows us to assess the situation objectively. We start by assessing the condition of the cylinders and a sheet transfer unit. It is very important to determine the condition of the sheet feed system, but on machines such as the Heidelberg SM 102-2-P, we should pay additional attention to the perfecting unit.
The Heidelberg service manual clearly states: the operator must turn the perfector back and forth at least once every fortnight. When trying to shift a mechanism clogged with a mixture of paper dust and oil, it can easily be broken. Many printers ignore this. And for a new owner, it can be a serious problem.
Traces of previous dismantling also matter. We have encountered situations where negligent service technicians have lost the calibrated plates that set the distance between sections. If the Heidelberg SM74 machine is dismantled into parts of 2 printing units, the Heidelberg CD74 or XL75 is disassembled unit by unit. The loss of one of the plates can lead to uneven installation and damage to the gears. The machine will soon no longer hold register.
In addition, the condition of peripheral devices should be checked. AirStar compressors on Heidelberg machines rarely live longer than ten years. A new AlсoSmart alcohol dispenser for a Heidelberg CD102 machine costs around 5K euros. Repairing a Heidelberg Axis Control can cost tens of thousands of euros. And so on. Wouldn’t it be better to pass these costs on to the seller? Just compare these expenses with the cost of our inspection and make the right decision. Your risk is inappropriate here.
In the field of printing since 1989. After technical school for printing, worked for a while on letterpress and offset printing presses.
Higher technological education at the Moscow State University of Printing (1998).
Professional trainings at Heidelberg Print Media Academy (Germany, 2005-2007). In particular, participating in special technical trainings on Heidelberg CD 74, XL 75, Heidelberg CD 102 and Heidelberg SM 52 printing machines (Heidelberg technical center, Germany) and on Polar cutting systems (Polar-Mohr, Hofheim am Taunus).
The sales rep, and later Head of a branch office of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen Osteuropa Vertriebs GmbH (Austria) (1997-2010).
Regional Sales Manager of H. Roesinger & Partner (France) (from 2011).
Moving a printing machine like Heidelberg CD 102 or XL 105 to a new location is always stressful for it. There are many different teams in the dismantling market. Some have the highest qualifications, others are self-taught. As a rule, the buyer never knows exactly who dismantled your machine and how well the packing process was done.
We offer you the services of our professional team that has been dismantling print machines for Heidelberg and Manroland for many years.
Pressinspection.com places very high demands on the quality of dismantling. One case of unskilled dismantling and we will never work with such a crew again. Unfortunately, we also have ‘black lists’ of crews with whom we will never co-operate.
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When using the materials of the site it is obligatory to indicate the link of source and the authorship.
© 2024 PressInspection™ All Rights Reserved.
When using the materials of the site it is obligatory to indicate the link of source and the authorship.