News

MIG Packaging in Melbourne installed a second SBL Smooth 106 diecutter in November, just five months after the first Smooth 106 installation in Australia by Graffica in June. The second machine replaced an eight year old SBL 1050 that was in excellent condition, but nevertheless was refurbished by the manufacturer's technicians and sold within Australia.

Both Smooth 106s handle projects on sizes ranging from 1060 x 760mm on materials from 80gm up to B-flute. A small sheet device is available to handle 320 x 320mm media. The diecutters feature quick lock stripping, raised 300mm, thin plate system and high performance up to 8000 sph with 300 tons of pressure.

MIG and the SBL Group have an eight year history with local distributor Graffica, since the packaging company purchased its first SBL 105 in 2003. MIG visited the plant in Taiwan for final inspection, and to view additional equipment that will be needed for further expansion. The company’s guillotining and window patching is already performed on SBL Group equipment.

Neil Southerington reports that despite the tight economic conditions Graffica has had its best capital equipment sales in 2011." It is the best for ten years, with two machines for New Zealand and twelve within Australia, all into the display, finishing or packaging fields. We have orders for four machines - a folding box gluer, die cutter / foiler, 1650 auto Die cutter and 1850 guillotine - to be installed in the first part of 2012.”

SBL will release new products at drupa 2012 where Graffica and SBL invite customers from the region to visit the stand.

As a dedicated trade only print supplier CMYKhub provides the perfect solution for small to medium size printers wanting to grow their business without having to invest in more equipment. With facilities in NSW, Victoria and Western, CMYKhub, offers production efficiencies and a reliable and consistent workflow via its up-to-date, well-maintained machinery.

One of the latest additions to its Sydney hub is a Toppy Advance turner/transporter, the first of its kind in Australia. The CMYKhub operation in Melbourne installed a Toppy pile turner three years ago through Graffica and found the mobile unit to be very reliable, flexible and cost effective, according to Clive Denholm, managing director, CMYKhub NSW.

"We have found Graffica to a very reliable supplier and they provide good support for the equipment they sell," he confirmed. "Having the pile turner reduces loading times, increases production and saves printers having to do the back breaking work of hand loading. In addition, the Toppy is affordable and has a fast payback period."

Neil Southerington of Graffica points out that the new Toppy Advance is actually two machines in one. "The Advance replaces the Standard Toppy and the Junior Toppy. It has all the features of both, but rather than being more expensive, it's priced midway between the two," he explains.

The Toppy Advance features an improved fully electronic drive and is equipped with a simple touch-screen display incorporating diagnostics.  Improved traction and easily exchanged skids allow pallets of paper up to 1000kg to be turned and transported with ease, even unstable piles such as die cut or stamped signatures and booklets. Turning piles for "work and turn" jobs takes less than two minutes, versus 20 to 30 minutes by hand.

While pulling a 1000kg with a pump truck is a hazard, turning by hand is a health and safety nightmare. Toppy with aeration and jogging becomes the "mover and shaker" of the printing industry. The Advance increases safety and productivity in the press room, bindery, shipping and receiving areas. There is no need for double handling transport and the compact self-propelled unit can turn anywhere in the factory.

Value adding, through embossing and foiling for example, is still the best way for printers and packagers to distinguish themselves from the pack. These processes add distinction to the hideed product that will also set their clients apart from the competition, while adding directly to the all important bottom line.

"At Graffica we are used to selling large format flat bed machines, but very few printers have the volume to justify such machinery," observes managing director Neil Southerington. "This is where the TYMK hot stamping and diecutting machine comes into its own: adding value to short runs – be it corporate stationery or annual reports, boxes or point-of-sale displays."

The new generation TYMK offers robust construction, high precision and efficiency to produce excellent effects. It comes in three sizes – 72cm, 93cm and 110cm, and will die cut, foil or emboss at 25 sheets per minute on a range of materials from paper through to cardboard, polypropylene plastics, leather, mouse pads or core flute, for example. Two or three foil pulls are possible through the reliable programmable controller. Skipping is accurate, so there is no wastage of foils.

"The low cost machine opens the door to a multitude of opportunities," adds Southerington. "There is a huge array of decorative foils available now to enhance the printed product In addition to embossing pictures and logos on items from labels, book covers and greeting cards to packaging cartons, the TYMK can also be used to soften the creases of a poly satchel or box. Graffica can arrange specialist training to show users how to achieve the best results for printing and packaging decoration as well as for the plastics industry."

This year started on a positive note for Graffica with the opening of its new showroom at Unit 66 / 22 Dunn Crescent, Dandenong on February 1. To celebrate this event, Graffica will be holding a two-day Open House on April 3 from 10am to 6pm and April 4 from 10am - 2pm.

Pride of place in the showroom is given to the Hamada B452 Mark 11. The heavy duty press from Japan’s oldest and respected small format press manufacturer comes with diamond encrusted grippers, triple race roller bearings, helical cut drive gears and cast steel side frame. "Fast makeready functions, colour control console with CIP 3 capabillity, EPS platesetting and additional features such as blanket washers make the B452 a fast turnaround, high quality press, that will give the fastest return on investment available today," notes Neil Southerington, managing director of Graffica.

Also on show will be a Hamada Superb 47 with numbering and perforating. To demonstrate the capabilities of the Superb 47 a three-colour envelope will be produced in one pass using the imprinting unit. Graffica will also demonstrate auxiliary equipment such as the KFG 650 folder gluer with glue gun system, the SBL automatic strapping machine and Toppy handling equipment. The Hamada B452 will produce CD wallets which will then be folded and glued on the KFG 650 folder gluer. These will be distributed to attendees with a CD on the products supplied by Graffica.

Although February was a short month, it proved extremely busy for Graffica with the installation of the third ‘cylinder killer’ – the MY 800 die cutter – in Sydney. The MY 800, with a real production output of over 6000+ on the floor, is the answer to the slow production output available from a cylinder. A number of hand-fed die cutters and foiling machines were also sold.

Earlier Graffica had completed a double installation at MIG Packaging in Melbourne consisting of a Datien 115 guillotine and an SBL window facer. Specialist print hideer Apex Print hideing also installed a large format XO 1800 die cutter to complement the XO 1600 installed a year earlier at its Dandenong factory. Last year the company also purchased a large format paper-to-board laminator.

Graffica has been handling the Toppy range of materials handling equipment since its inception ten years ago. Over that period 50 Toppy units have been installed Australia wide, from Darwin to Tasmania, where the latest unit was installed in Burnie in January this year.

Neil Southerington of Graffica confirms that printers appreciate the occupational health and safety advantages that accrue with the installation of a Toppy unit. "It's good to see that even in difficult times printers are still investing in commonsense equipment that speeds throughput and eliminates back injury, the number one source of injury in the printing industry."

The most popular unit in the range for the smaller print shop with one to three presses either A1 or A2 is the Toppy Junior (pictured right) with a capacity of 1000kg. The same unit with full electronic drive (Standard Toppy) suits operations with multiple presses and the need to transport and turn stacks anywhere in the factory from pressroom, bindery to dispatch. This same model with wide feet is the choice of print hideers who have no control over the type of pallet they receive. Standard Toppy units are available in the popular 1000kg unit plus 1500kg or 1800kg versions for plastics and other heavy duty operations.

The new Toppy Kompressor released at drupa has a built-in air jogger, full electronic drive and 1000kg or 1500kg capacity. Toppy also manufactures full logistic systems for press and die-cutting operations as well as tailor-made solutions such as the Maxi Toppy with wide feet specially made to take 1700 x 1200mm corrugated material for a Sydney company.

"Pushing and pulling an 800kg stack around a concrete floor is not only dangerous to the worker, it is also double handling. Having to flip over heavy art papers and board is definitely a health hazard and an accident waiting to happen. Toppy eliminates pallet trucks and back injuries in one go," Southerington observes. "There are cheap static units that will do a job but as always you get what you pay for. With some 10,000 units worldwide in printing, packaging and pharmaceutical industries, the Toppy Mobile Turner is not number one by accident!"

On the SBL stand in Hall 11 at drupa, the new range of materials handling equipment for the Datien guillotine range is attracting the interest of those whose choice has previously been limited to systems from Polar and Wohlenberg. "Very few printers look to buy new guillotine without some form of handling," explained Neil Southerington, managing director of Graffica, the Australian representative for the sturdily built Taiwanese machinery. "We are now able to offer a full solution including counting and stack turning."

Jogging, lifting and unloading facilities allow the job to be controlled at the guillotine, no longer requiring the operator to aerate and jog stock or manually lift or lower heavy product. It is ideally suited for 92cm, 115cm and 137mm production, although some components can be supplied for the largest three-metre Datien machine.

Since Graffica took on the agency and displayed a unit at Pacprint, ten Datien guillotines have been sold in the Australian market, the first being a 115cm machine with an enlarged side table and built-in stack lift. More recently the expansion of the large-format market, developed in response to market requests worldwide by large-format digital and screen printers for a unit capable of trimming larger than life point-of-sales signage and displays, has seen the installation of two 260cm models in the local market.

The appeal of Datien products lies in their competitive pricing for such well specified machinery. "The servo-driven back gauge is one of the fastest on the market and coupled with computerised positioning allows jobs to be cut with much greater accuracy and hideed in less time. The heavy duty engineering, dual arm activated blade holder, fast and simple blade changing, exceptional electronics programming and safety system, plus the overall hide of the Datien is as good as the leading brands," observes Southerington. "The addition of materials handling equipment to an already attractive package represents true value for money with an excellent return on investment."

Neil Southerington of Graffica has returned from drupa 2008 confident that two new releases from principals he represents in Australia will be well received on the Australian market especially in the current economic climate where every dollar counts. The new four-colour Hamada H 466 66 cm and the long-anticipated Toppy air jogger both offer high performance and ensure excellent return on investment.

Working on the formula that print margins are tight and most work can be produced on a four-colour press, Hamada released its new model with the emphasis on speed. The unit operates at 15,000 iph and comes with E.P.S. (easy plate setting) cocking, remote registration, ink control, CIP3 connectivity, Diamond encrusted grippers and triple race roller bearings, all for $660,000. Southerington says that the price has been kept reasonable by eliminating features such as automatic blanket wash-up which are superfluous to many printers' requirements in the Australian and New Zealand markets.

He checks off the benefits: "Speed, got it; fast makeready, got it; strength and reliability, got it, and purchase price, got it. This press will mean the owner can compete with anyone, and will not be working all hours just to make lease repayments. It will also mean printers will have a new high performance press available that they can afford without taking the dangerous trip through the used machinery minefield."

The all new Toppy pile turner with built-in air and jogging has all the features of a fixed unit, plus the huge advantage of full electronic drive. Printers and packagers can now condition air and jog full stacks of paper and board anywhere in the factory and transport stacks where they are required without double handling. Users can also be confident of the reliability of the equipment produced by Toppy as it already has 6000 mobile pile turner sales to its credit.

This year started on a positive note for Graffica with the opening of its new showroom at Unit 66/ 22 Dunn Crescent, Dandenong on February 1. To celebrate this event, Graffica will be holding a two-day Open House on April 3 from 10am to 6pm and April 4 from 10am - 2pm.

Pride of place in the showroom is given to the Hamada B452 Mark11. The heavy duty press from Japan’s oldest and respected small format press manufacturer comes with diamond encrusted grippers, triple race roller bearings, helical cut drive gears and cast steel side frame. "Fast makeready functions, colour control console with CIP 3 capabillity, E.P.S. platesetting and additional features such as blanket washers make the B452 a fast turnaround, high quality press, that will give the fastest return on investment available today," noted Neil Southerington, managing director of Graffica.

Also on show will be a Hamada Superb 47 with numbering and perforating. To demonstrate the capabilities of the Superb 47 a three-colour envelope will be produced in one pass using the imprinting unit. Graffica will also demonstrate auxiliary equipment such as the KFG 650 folder gluer with glue gun system, the SBL automatic strapping machine and Toppy handling equipment. The Hamada B452 will produce CD wallets which will then be folded and glued on the KFG 650 folder gluer. These will be distributed to attendees with a CD on the products supplied by Graffica.

Although February was a short month, it proved extremely busy for Graffica with the installation of the third ‘cylinder killer’ – the MY 800 die cutter in Sydney. The MY 800, with a real production output of over 6000 + on the floor, is the answer to the slow production output available from a cylinder. A number of hand-fed die cutters and foiling machines were sold.

Earlier Graffica had completed a double installation at MIG Packaging in Melbourne consisting of a Datien 115 guillotine and an SBL window facer. Specialist print hideer Apex Print hideing also installed a large format XO 1800 die cutter to complement the XO 1600 installed a year earlier at its Dandenong factory. Last year the company also purchased a large format paper-to-board laminator.

The star at the Hamada stand at IGAS was undoubtedly the B452 Mark II. Two-colour and four-colour versions fitted with envelope feeders and delivery were running high quality four-colour envelopes at high speed.

Neil Southerington, managing director of local agent Graffica, said one of the main attractions of the Hamada B452 Mark II is that it can output work com-petitive to digital print at an affordable price. “From fine screens to large solids, tight registration to four-colour process, the B452 Mark II handles them with ease. It offers fast makereadies, high productivity, all while maintaining the highest print quality.

“With all of the time-saving features, compact design and solid construction we have come to expect from Japanese manufacturers, it’s no wonder print shops are raving about this model. Six were sold whilst I was at the expo. One Japanese printer has seven B452s presses in one small print shop,” he added. Graffica also purchased a four-colour B452 Mark 11 press during IGAS which will be available for demonstration at its Melbourne showroom in the new year.

Also displayed was the 1/1 Duetto dedicated perfecting press with double feeder. The machine produces perfected single-colour manuals and books at high speeds of 10,000 cph. It also features time-saving auto plate loading and auto blanket washing. Another new release was an A3 UV pattern and overall coater. This free-standing machine with universal feeder aimed at the digital and small offset print market is simple to use for the untrained operator.

A further development from Hamada and Hirose was a double off-line A2 coater. The first unit comprises a Hamada print unit for pattern coating. Whilst still wet the stock proceeds to a second coating unit, which with the use of special coatings gives an embossed effect plus many other possibilities.

The new combinations proved to be a hit with one local printer negotiating the purchase of a four-colour B452 with envelope feeder and an off-line coater package to service his busy inner city print shop and digital copy centre.

Graffica’s appointment as the Australian agent for Hamada presses was well-timed for the company to promote its new addition to existing customers at PrintEx07 as well as allowing it to introduce the benefits to potential clients. Managing director Neil Southerington is no stranger to the improved range: having previously been the local agent for Hashimoto presses, which were bought out by Hamada in 2001, he is familiar with the workings of the upgraded series.

The new 52cm four-colour press (pictured above) will be the flagship of the range in Australia, according to Southerington. “It features many of the best things Hashimoto presses were renowned for worldwide. Hamada has taken these great features and coupled them with its outstanding knowledge of manufacturing machines that offer quick turnaround and are affordable.”

In addition to the robust construction, other Hashimoto features that have been incorporated are long lasting main cylinder bearings and heavy duty tapered roller bearings. “Triple race roller bearings are the best available in the world today,” Southerington observes. “Features rarely found on a 52cm press include helical cut gears, cast steel side frames and cam closed diamond dust cylinder grippers. Other standard features are the Easy Plate System (EPS) for fast, accurate plate mounting of metal or polyester plates, segmented ink ducts controlled from the operator console, job storage on hard drive, and an optional CIP3 converter.”

This machine is compact (the four-colour model measures under four metres in length). It has a fast turnaround and is very affordable for such a heavy duty machine – the five-colour plus coater weighing in at a massive 12.000 kg. To date over 450 presses have been installed worldwide with the USA and Europe being the main beneficiaries. Hamada is one of the longest established press manufacturers in Japan and this month celebrates 90 years of production. To celebrate, special pricing will be available until the end of the year.

Over the past six months Neil Southerington of Graffica has made many visits to China to work with suppliers to ensure the machines it imports are of the highest standard and meet local safety requirements. During this time he visited many local printers who, like all Chinese businesses, are looking to export and came up with some fascinating insights.

“I had always thought it was only the labour costs that gave them the edge – not so it seems. The other major difference is capital equipment cost.The Chinese focus less on brand names and resale value and more on return on investment. Machinery is expected to perform 24/7 with little downtime and must be simple to operate and maintain. I didn’t see one old cylinder doing die cutting and creasing work; all had 7000sph fully automatic machines. It’s not difficult to see the advantage here: 6,000sph on the floor as opposed to 2000; 48,000 sheets per shift as opposed to 16,000!” he observed.

“All of the plants I visited did simple hideing such as laminating and UV coating; very simple procedures that save time and money by keeping them in-house. Laminating machinery is low cost and adds significant value to the hideed product. It’s also a non-skilled process: It’s easy to see why they do things this way.”

In his travels Neil noted that most equipment is locally built. “Certainly some are a lot better than others. It’s taken us a long time to source and get the right manufacturing partners to supply us with well-made CE approved machinery at the right price.”

Graffica’s range of automatic die cutters now includes new 720 and 800 models, together with high quality laminating machinery and guillotines. The laminators, both water based and thermal, come in various configurations depending on customer requirements. Introductory specials are available on the 720 UV coater and 720 die cutter/creaser, thermal laminator and any size guillotine. For readers of Printers Post who are running old cylinders Graffica is offering a special $10,000 minimum trade in on a brand new 720, 800 or 1060 fully automatic cutter/creaser. The 720 die cutter creaser costs $130,000 and the 800 die cutter creaser $160,000 (+ GST).