Installations News
Premier Printing Installs Heidelberg Speedmaster

Premier Printing, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, has added a Heidelberg Speedmaster XL-106-4P. The press features a range of automation including AutoPlate Pro fully automated plate loading, Prinect Axis Control Spectral measuring device, and dynamic sheet brakes.

The press is driven by Heidelberg’s recently introduced Press Center XL featuring Intellistart 2 operating software, which the press maker describes as providing for autonomous processing of jobs at speeds of up to 18,000 sheets per hour.

Premier Printing explains, as a manufacturer of school, college and university agendas, as well as general commercial printing, when agenda season hits, the plant must double production and meet stringent deadlines. This created a backlog on its current sheetfed offset presses, including a Speedmaster XL-106-10P and a Speedmaster SM 74-8P+L. The new Speedmaster has filled the gap for the 2/2 signatures that are typical in this printing business.

“AutoPlate Pro is a gift,” said Tom Bennet, Special Projects Manager, Premier Printing. “Agenda run lengths are 300 to 1,500 per form, so we are performing up to 150 plate changes per day. Job changes on the 4P were as low as 1½ minutes. Keeping plates coming is the new challenge.”

Another of Premier’s recent investments for productivity improvement came in the installation of a TH-82-P Stahl folder with PFX feeder. Capable of running signatures at 18,000 pieces per hour, the company explains this folder has doubled the amount of throughput in its finishing department.   

“This new folder is a game changer. Of all the areas in our plant, folding was the real bottleneck,” said Ted Gortemaker, Operations Manager at Premier. “The ease of operation, set up and throughput is amazing. Watching skids of print disappear is stunning. Using the pallet feeding and Palamides stacking table has greatly reduced the operator work level required.”

Founded in 1962, Premier Printing today employs 80 full-time staff, and up to 120 part-time staff during agenda season, in a 75,000-square-foot facility in Winnipeg’s St. Boniface Industrial Park.