Consumables & spares make or break your print-shop

Building blocks of any offset printing services establishment are the little cogs around which the bigger wheel of fortune rotates. These can be your inks, plates, blankets, spare parts, almost anything, but speed of the rotation of those wheels depends on whether the user have kept the house [in this case a print shop] in order. Although there are a fair number of manufacturers that ‘peddle’ consumables for printing services, very few of them are worth trying out. While there are players like Trelleborg who specialise in making parts like offset printing blankets and plates; to have an insight of an entity which not only specialises in every possible sphere of offset Printing Services, besides managing a think-tank developing cutting edge printing course material will be rare. Heidelberg is perhaps the only player in the segment who can boast of it all. Environmentally aware printing services are a specific strategy followed by print shops for achieving economic goals. Much does, however, depend on the quality of the consumables used. Saphira Eco is Heidelberg’s comprehensive line of eco-friendly consumables [like Saphira Inks, Saphira Plates etc] for the entire range of printing services: prepress, press and postpress. Over its entire life cycle, the day-to-day running of a press has a major impact on the environment. In addition to energy, it also consumes resources such as printing paper, saphira ink, cleaning agents, and fountain solution additives. Emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and ammonia are a further factor to consider. To optimize the eco balance of presses on a sustainable basis, Heidelberg India [with printing course developers Print Media Academy’s research input] has now developed a comprehensive range of environmentally compatible consumables under the Saphira-Eco label. All consumables lines being developed across the world are being asked by industry experts and observers to meet the demanding ecological criteria of environmental certificates and industry standards – most of them are still work in progress while there are few products in market matching the finery of saphira plates and saphira ink for offset printing services. To get the best out of the Print Media Consumables will need a rigorous maintenance schedule, which to be honest, isn’t that rigorous. Use a roller setting strip for setting rollers, check surface condition of dull chrome distributor roller in the dampening system and check the shore hardness of your rollers. Follow this up by hiring trained professionals, people who actually have completed a packaging and printing course at some level. Think of them as investment in your printing services and get ready to reap the dividends that this will offer. As a wise man said, good things in life do not come cheap.rnTick all the boxes on this check list and your printing services establishment is ready to rock and roll!