Print volume triples for Druckpress with iq-501 intelligent care

The full-service media company based in Leimen, south-west Germany, was founded as a traditional offset printing operation in 1973 and has since made a name for itself as a PSO-certified quality print shop. The company uses two printing machines from the Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG XL series and it acquired a Konica Minolta AccurioPress C6085 with IQ-501 at the beginning of the year. Druckpress has an extensive portfolio of services ranging from business cards to books and personalised mailings to hybrid projects. Its speciality, however, lies in the production of particularly time-critical print projects.

Reliable colour quality and consistency were key factors when Druckpress decided to purchase the Konica Minolta AccurioPress C6085 with IQ-501. The company was looking for prints with a higher-quality finish that capture emotions on paper and really express the essence of the message. At the same time, any new system needed to support highly technical high-end effects and be able to handle different types of data.

Today, Druckpress enjoys significantly shorter processing times and reliable print quality. The company is also able to save several hours each month in the prepress stage. The improved integration of digital printing combined with the ability to produce magazines of the same quality more easily and the means to process large quantities of 70-gsm art paper has streamlined the company's workflows considerably.

Working closely with Konica Minolta has enabled Druckpress to achieve its aim of optimising its end-to-end process. Konica Minolta invested time in getting to know the company and its specific requirements, using this knowledge as a basis for creating the perfect solution. The advantages for Druckpress are clear to see — its staff are much happier and implementing continuous quality control has significantly reduced the number of customer complaints it receives.

Druckpress’s key consideration was how to elevate produc­tion print quality. Its previous digital solution had the challenge of unstable print quality and shifting front to back registration within print runs. Another issue was reprinting repeat orders as print quality has changed and the time consuming set up had to be done over and over again. In short, achieving the requisite results became problematic.

Druckpress wanted to find a way to maintain one-time creation of two color profiles (ISO Coated and ISO Uncoated) and one-time setup of the main paper types (double-sided sheet adjustment, paper profiling) as well as enjoy automated imposition and make ready and fast set up with hot folders. It also wanted better control of registration accuracy and toner density on the printed sheet in real time during printing.

Druckpress screened the market and looked at several products but chose the Konica Minolta AccurioPress C6085 with IQ-501 for a number of reasons.

The 1,200 x 1,200 x 8 dpi AccurioPress C6085 achieves supe­rior productivity at 85 ppm and identical high-speed printing for a wide range of paper weights. It can produce a wide range of print applications on grades from 52 gsm to 400 gsm as well as embossed paper and envelopes. It enables finishing versatility with booklet making, perfect binding, auto ring binding.

IQ-501 Intelligent Quality Care makes best use of the speed and efficiency of CCD scanning and the accuracy of spectro­photometry. The result is automatic, in-line and highly accurate measurement of colours and registration. Colour targets can be set within the controller software at the start of a run, and the IQ-501 system ensures that colour density and fidelity remain constant throughout the print run by checking each sheet in real time, with a closed-loop feedback system ensur­ing continual adjustment where necessary. Perfect front and back registration are also assured, with automatic adjustment of image position, skew and rotation, and there is no slow­down. Printer profiling is quick and simple too.

A central topic when it comes to increasing cost efficiency is the workflow. Much can be automated with the AccurioPro Flux Essential software. AccurioPro Flux Essential is Konica Minolta´s software solution for printing preparation (Make-Ready) and automation of professional print workflow. Especially in conjunction with the IQ-501, time-consuming processes are extremely shortened. Thus, the solution lowers staff costs, which also reduces personnel costs.

Druckpress also liked AccurioPro Flux Essential’s ability to automate imposition and makeready. But a key convincer was an extensive printing test of an important regular periodical on 70 gsm art paper. The trial was held on two days at an interval of two weeks and proved very successful because of the consistent output quality with no labour intensive manual­setup. Vital, too, was the trustful relationship Konica Minolta established with Druckpress. In getting to know its needs, it was able to create the perfect solution that responded to the operation’s specific day-to-day demands.