Special Speedmaster succeeds

27 March 2009



Heidelberg press helps John Watson ride the credit crunch


It is a year since label producer John Watson Printers installed the world’s longest B2 Speedmaster, and the Scottish company says it has had clear commercial and environmental benefits. The Heidelberg press can handle up to nine colours in one pass plus bronzing or other special coating and varnishing effects, and the control of colour quality and register is precise, eliminating all guesswork.

The machine in John Watson’s Glasgow factory is a Speedmaster CD 74-L-Y-9+L-YY-L-X3(UV) - with a precoater, nine UV printing units and two end of line coaters with extended delivery so that the sheets of labels come off dry.

“We bought this press a year ago as an investment to keep us ahead of the pack,” says chairman and chief executive John Watson. “It was a customer driven decision and was the right thing to do. We had seen customers putting value back into their brands and using seven, eight or nine colours.

“We were having to put labels through a press twice, with all the registration and colour sequence challenges that brings. Now this press attracts its own business and people know they can hand us their work with even more confidence.”

The press is used for wet labels, tube and box wraps, primarily for the whisky market, which represents 90 per cent of the company’s business. It handles the most demanding of jobs, including leading brands such as Chivas and Glenfiddich labels. For more complex work, it will run at 13,000 sheets/hour, and for straightforward labels at its full 15,000 sheets/hour speed. There is no typical run length; it ranges from 10,000 to 100,000.

The Chivas label is demanding because of the quality of white required. If the labels are printed on metallic stock they become very dull. Running it on the Heidelberg press and precoating makes the words ‘Chivas Regal’ stand out.

John Watson has had double coaters before but never a precoater, and this has created some new opportunities on metallics such as pearlescent effects, bronzing or highlighting areas on a dark background, so that the bar code stands out and is readable.

Tube wraps are considered like large labels in production terms and are run two-up on a B2 sheet. To foil block these off-line can be expensive, so on the Speedmaster spot coatings are often applied on a light cream stock to give a similar finish.

Currently, John Watson is in talks with Heidelberg about adding Foilstar by the end of the year. This would mean having an option to apply adhesive on the sixth unit and coldfoil on the seventh. Both units could revert to inking as needed. When FoilStar is operating, the other inking units can apply work before and after the foil is applied.

This is adding value to what is claimed to be the most flexible B2 press in labelling to date.

About 70 per cent of the work through the press is 6-colour, and 10 per cent each 7, 8 and 9-colour. Having Image Control spectrophotometric measurement is a key selling point - impressing customers who come in to pass work on the press - and helping the company reduce start-up waste.

Colour is more than just measurement. The control comes in the detail. For instance, there is InstantGate to speed up presetting and control the transfer of data to and from an MIS system; and Colour Assist, which defines the curves for colour adjustment on the press. A technotrans ink agitator prevents the UV inks skinning, and water cooled peripherals control the temperature of the dampening and the viscosity of the ink, as well as creating a more comfortable working environment.

The press runs alongside three other Speedmasters and three Gietz foiling and embossing presses in the Glasgow facility.

“We have a lean manufacturing programme and this press helps us to remain sharp,” says John Watson. “We are now producing over 15 mn labels a week but, given the credit crunch, there hasn’t been any increase in turnover or profitability; but this press has safeguarded margins by giving us single-pass capability.”

Single-pass also means being more environmental, reducing the amount of energy used and paper waste per job. Running lean and running green is often synonymous. And using some of Heidelberg’s Star products, including DryStar and Coating Star, enables John Watson Printers to optimise its environmental footprint, reducing consumables waste and maximising energy efficiency.


John Watson shows entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter some of the Speedmaster's work

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John Watson shows entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter some of the Speedmaster's work John Watson shows entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter some of the Speedmaster's work


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