On Press talked with President Toshinaga Hagiwara and Katsuyuki Tsuchida, Acting Chief of the Production Section of the Business Department, regarding the background and impact of this installation.
"Since 'a machine that is not running becomes a burden' was the perspective of my predecessor, the company could only print monochrome work." So says Kyoeido Printing President Toshinaga Hagiwara. "Previously, we expanded by specializing in monochrome jobs that other companies did not want to run. Therefore, the only offset equipment that we had was one- and two-color half-size presses, and we outsourced all color work," Mr. Hagiwara explains.
"When we began thinking of taking color jobs, we attended a Komori open house to examine the acquisition of an A-size four-color press. There we encountered the Impremia IS29," he says.
When Hagiwara saw the Impremia IS29, he was amazed by a press that was different from other digital machines in every respect -- engine, mechanism and quality.
"With UV curing, printed sheets can be immediately sent to postpress. Moreover, we can print with offset quality. In addition, I became very interested in the Impremia IS29's distinctive ability to print with high quality on Lezak paper, which has a leatherlike texture. I felt that the system would be a very good fit for our company and that it would be relatively easy to train our operators, so we decided to invest in the Impremia IS29," says Hagiwara.
Meeting the diverse needs of customers had been a challenge: "We could not print on any paper size larger than A3 with the liquid-toner digital printer that we had all along. But with the Impremia IS29, we could eliminate outsourcing and print posters and packaging larger than A3. The result of installing the Impremia IS29, both in terms of quality and needs, is that we can provide our clients with stable high-quality printing," Hagiwara explains.

Magical front-back register accuracy and wide color gamut

When Hagiwara thinks about the factors that influenced his selection, he reflects on the machine's features that serve dual purposes: "The Impremia IS29 provides a wider color gamut than offset printing and can also handle color proofing. Our company does a lot of business with clothing brands, and high-level color proofing is required. I think most color proofing is done on-press; in other words, most color proofing is performed on an actual press, which is expensive. Using the Impremia IS29, we can get the target color right away."
In addition, deep down Hagiwara feels that he doesn't want to inconvenience the sales staff: "Simply put, with our previous workflow, the salespeople were saddled with a lot of processes. They went to get the job, then checked the color proof at another company, and then took the color proof to the customer. If the customer decided to go ahead, then the salesperson had to take the color proof to yet another printer for production. We have been able to significantly shorten that workflow."

'The Impremia IS29...is creating our company's future'

How does the pressroom look at this machine, now in operation for six months? Katsuyuki Tsuchida, Acting Chief of the Production Section of the Business Department, thinking back on the period immediately after installation, says: "Preparation for operating the Impremia IS29 started with understanding the difference from our existing machine. The wide color gamut and being able to run the Impremia IS29 in RGB mode are totally different from our previous equipment. I think customers appreciate the bright, vivid color and the depth attainable in photos. The excellent front/back register accuracy and the short preparation time are big advantages. Papers that we used to outsource such as Lezak and Vent Nouveau can be printed beautifully. Our customers are very pleased with these results"
"Now we are producing an original color guide on the Impremia IS29 using many DIC and Pantone colors on coated, matte coated and high-quality paper. Salespeople are using this in making proposals to customers. With the Impremia IS29, graphic expressions without using special colors are possible. Our strategy makes use of this advantage," Mr. Tsuchida explains.
Hagiwara's outlook on the future is confident: "Both in size and paper quality, the range of compatibility is broad. Moreover, we can produce packaging. For example, when we want to produce a box in which the customer's product fits perfectly, the Impremia IS29 can provide many choices. Rather than contributing to profits, this instead raises the customer's expectations of our technical capabilities and responsiveness. And this, in turn, leads to new business. The Impremia IS29 thus handles the work that is creating our company's future."