Four years ago, Deltabach was the first printing house in The Netherlands to adopt LED UV by retrofitting one of its existing four-color presses with an LED UV system. While others hesitated to do the same because of the more expensive UV inks, Mr. De Jong was convinced that the benefits would outweigh the higher costs: "And they absolutely did! You can get a lot more work done in the same amount of time. Also, since you don't need to use any spray powder, you save a lot of time not having to constantly clean your equipment. And your printed jobs are completely dry on leaving the press, so they can be finished and delivered immediately."

Increased productivity and efficiency

Looking for ways to further increase productivity and efficiency, De Jong's next move came in 2016. He decided for a new Komori four-color Lithrone G37 H-UV L (LED) — another first for the Dutch market — to replace a B2 press. This new compact A1-sized Komori press joined an existing B1 press, boosting both capacity and flexibility at Deltabach: "This is how we can continue to differentiate ourselves in the highly competitive market that we serve. Because we cater only to print resellers, such as print brokers and online printers, we need to be fast, efficient and versatile. At the same time, we focus on producing 'specials' — by offering die cutting, foiling or unusual sizes — to prevent ourselves from ending up printing commodity products only at the lowest price. We don't need to win each and every job: we know what we are good at, and we know what we want."
"It has always been in our DNA to continuously look for more clever ways of producing," explains De Jong. "I would even argue that I am actually more into process improvement than into the printing itself. I'm always calculating, looking at the numbers and trying to figure out the pros and cons of doing things differently." And so it was not very long after successfully installing the Komori Lithrone G37 that De Jong again started to consider new options. Triggered by a trip to Japan together with other Dutch Komori-users to see the new eight-color Komori Lithrone G40P in action, he set out to find the perfect solution for Deltabach: "We always need to be alert, looking for opportunities and investing at the right moment. Automation will allow us to bring costs down and remain lean and mean."

Full-spec eight-color Lithrone G40P H-UV L (LED)

After good consideration — including looking at several alternatives from various press manufacturers — Deltabach decided for a new fully equipped eight-color Komori Lithrone G40P H-UV L (LED) to replace its two current machines. "In fact," says De Jong, "this new press offers us the capacity of not two but three machines because of its high level of automation and process control." Next to its technical capabilities, De Jong was also impressed by its excellent price/performance ratio. "And of course it is very convenient for me to talk directly to specialists at the Komori Graphic Center-Europe in Utrecht, which is not that far from our premises."
The Lithrone G40P was installed in July/August 2018 at Deltabach, and Marc De Jong is 100 percent convinced this was the best decision to make. "Having this one machine now at the heart of our company has created a lot of confidence and clarity for the whole organization. All press operators are now part of the same team, responsible for the same machine. We are working two shifts and are able to handle many more jobs than previously because of the higher productivity on this perfecting press. At the same time we are cutting down on waste, as the automation and quality controls of the machine ensure both very fast setup times and stable print quality throughout the entire job."

High expectations of KP-Connect

De Jong has also invested in both new CTP and finishing equipment to further optimize production. Still, he is convinced there are many next steps to be taken. "We will be further automating our administrative processes. There is also the clear need to link one system to another, both internally and externally. Online ordering and API-connected services will become increasingly important to us. I want to be able to move into dynamic pricing, so we can better balance market demand and available capacity. Also, we have not yet explored gang-run printing, which could be a great opportunity for us."
He also has high expectations of KP-Connect, Komori's cloud-based productivity solution offering both real-time pressroom status and extensive reporting: "Being able to analyze and compare all these data in detail will provide us with valuable information on how to continuously improve on our productivity and efficiency."

New market opportunities

Having the Lithrone G40P in place, Marc De Jong sees a lot of new market opportunities to tap into: "First of all, we will need to change the market's perception that an eight-color B1-press is only suited for very high volumes. Thanks to H-UV L (LED) and the use of K-Supply inks, our machine is also capable of producing small volumes very fast at a very competitive cost point. This will help us break into new markets. Furthermore, the H-UV L (LED) technology fits in perfectly with our aim to put a stronger emphasis on our environmental credentials, now that more — and larger — customers are increasingly demanding their suppliers to be 'green.'"