Today this innovative printer plays a central role in the Chinese publishing market, providing outstanding product quality, meticulous corporate control and group management.
Founded in 1957, Zhongke Printing (formerly the printing factory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences) has a site of more than 130,000 square meters with more than 60,000 square meters of floorspace, registered capital of 197 million yuan (US$ 29.5 million), total assets of 620 million yuan (US$ 92.8 million) and more than 1,000 employees. Zhongke has acquired many important certifications, including ISO 9001 for quality management and ISO 14001 for environmental management.

Awards follow achievements

When Shen Xinghua, the company's chairman, perceived trends in the industry, he responded with changes. Zhongke built a new plant in 2005 and installed the latest equipment. Today Zhongke is looking toward a new stage of development. Of course, innovation is easier said than done. The good part for Zhongke is that every year it has received many honors, including an award for outstanding book printing quality from the national newspaper publishing association and being listed among the top 10 companies for print quality. It has also taken gold medals for bookbinding from several publishing companies.

Tie-up with Komori: Eye-opening

Mr. Shen says: "Zhongke and Komori are like old friends. At first, due to our reorganization, we experienced a large increase in the volume of work. We were overwhelmed by orders and the pressroom was swamped. Then one of our new shareholders brought in three Komori webs and two Lithrone sheetfed presses. We were all astonished by the speed, quality and efficiency of the Komori machines. Our pressroom manager called them 'perfect.' My first impression was 'high speed and high quality with no downtime.'"

Staying with Komori for upmost quality

'Unceasing diligence and always aiming for the peak.' This is Shen's business creed. And throughout his talk to On Press, he repeatedly emphasized quality: "The market is developing rapidly, and competition is growing more intense. Quality is the only thing that will gain customer recognition. How can we achieve the quality customers value? One answer is to first of all consider equipment. Staying with Komori is a choice we make unhesitatingly."
In 2015, when many companies were wavering about whether or not to invest in new machinery, Zhongke installed three four-color Lithrone S40SP SuperPerfectors. Says Shen: "We pay more attention to equipment-related investments and output than other companies. We calculate our return on investment by taking into account our cost, labor and materials. Ultimately we decided that Komori presses merit our continued investment." As a result, Zhongke runs eight Komori presses: three webs, four four-color Lithrone S40SPs and one five-color Lithrone S40 with coater. And since the company still has a very large volume of work, Shen indicated that an additional four-color Lithrone S40SP would be purchased this year.
Zhongke President Zeng Xingqiao puts it this way: "No matter what you look at — on-time delivery, production efficiency or feedback from customers — all these indicators are proof that we made the right choice with Komori presses. The impeccable print quality and high production efficiency are perfect for handling our enormous volume of work and allowing us to meet the needs of our demanding customers. I look forward to continuing our partnership with Komori."
Zhongke met its high quality printing needs and gained fame by partnering with Komori. According to Shen, the company's sales last year totaled 260 million yuan (US$ 38.9 million), continuing its third year of high growth. As the overall industry is in a downturn, this is truly a record worth celebrating.

Forward outlook

Chairman Shen says of the future: "We're looking closely at Komori's latest digital printing systems, particularly the new product developed jointly by Komori and Landa. We might make further investments and reinforce our existing digital printing capacity. This would involve strengthening both software and hardware. We go with the times, and Zhongke will give priority to Komori digital printing equipment. We look forward to staying with Komori and Infotech, Komori's distributor, as we open new pages."