Solon, Ohio – RMGT (RYOBI HMI Graphic Technology Ltd.), a global leader in LED-UV equipped sheetfed offset presses, solidified its North American presence in 2019 with a large number of existing RMGT printers investing in their second press. The strategic decision to merge and integrate the respective press manufacturing strengths of Ryobi Ltd. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) led to a totally revamped RMGT product lineup in the fall of 2015. By eliminating just a few inches off the width of a 40-inch press, RMGT has created economies in footprint, staffing and consumables while still producing a full 8-up sheet and 16-page signature.
In just over four years, this innovation has taken RMGT to a leadership position among offset press manufacturers, to the point where RMGT has become the number one 8-up sheetfed offset press in North America in this category. In this time period, there have been seventy new 9 Series presses delivered to companies from every segment of the printing industry. Included in that remarkable number are nearly 20 multiple RMGT (Ryobi and Mitsubishi) printing press owners.
“Looking back on 2019, we are thrilled to see our market share grow in sales of new RMGT offset presses in this 8-up space,” states Kozac Takata, Manager of International Sales and Marketing, RMGT. “After 12 years as a leader in providing LED-UV curing on our offset presses, it is gratifying to see how this technology has changed the business of customers in the commercial print, packaging, and in-plant markets.” The following companies represent a sampling of the nationwide printers who have already invested in their second RMGT press.
Push Solutions
Push Solutions, a print service provider based in New Berlin, Wisconsin, commissioned their first RMGT 9 Series press in the spring of 2016. They were already on an incredible growth trajectory in the highly competitive retail marketing, retail packaging and nationwide distribution segment of the print market. “To be honest our strategic plan didn't include a second RMGT 9 in year two since that major investment,” states Nick Bova, Vice President, “but our growth is practically being forced on us. We had to keep our production levels in line with our sales volume.” Push Solutions’ President Brad Flagge adds, “Our first RMGT 9 has been a great producer for us, and we feel our manufacturing cost is significantly less than our competitors, so pairing up on our second press was a natural.”
Taylor Graphics
Taylor Graphics, based in Irvine, CA, is the largest trade only printing facility in Orange County, California. They purchased their first RMGT press in 2017. Investing in LED-UV technology allowed them to run on different substrates, printing on foil board, plastics, and vinyls. “This really open up the door for us to widen our gamut of printing to all of our customers,” states Dean Taylor, President, Taylor Graphics. The second offset press they purchased from RMGT was equipped with a DAK camera system, allowing them to get into the lucrative packaging and pharmaceuticals market. “The system actually takes a picture of every sheet and compares it to the proof, detecting whether the density of color is off, if any text is broken or missing. If we had a smashed blanket or any hickies, the DAK system can identify anything that's different than the original proof.”
Print Direct For Less
Print Direct For Less (PDFL) became a multiple RMGT press shop in 2019 when they made the decision to upgrade to the RMGT 920PF-8+LED-UV Long Perfector press. This 8-up model brings not only faster speeds, but also prints sheets that are 25% larger, giving PDFL far more capacity as well.
“The new perfecting press prints both sides in a single pass,” states Ed Perron, Owner, Print Direct For Less. “We jumped from 6 pages per pass to 16 pages per cycle as far as total throughput. That, along with a higher press speed, translates to over 270% more work from the same labor hour. Turnaround times are shrinking from two to six days to sometimes same day, with a max of three days on most projects. LED-UV curing allows us to go directly from printing into finishing, increasing the max throughput, which is the key to future growth. In fact, we already have a market for this work — not only will we be able to go after work from new customers, we are also picking up a sizeable amount of work from our current customers that we couldn’t handle previously.”
Pacific Printing
Pacific Printing, based in the heart of Silicon Valley, San Jose, CA also invested in their second RMGT press in 2019. The RMGT 9 Series press had the same footprint as their older 28-inch press it was replacing, allowing them to expand capacity and capabilities without redesigning their layout. “Compared to a 40-inch press, when we did price comparisons, it was 30-40% less than most manufacturers were quoting us,” states Andrew Goett, President, Pacific Printing. “We felt the RMGT 9 Series was the best ‘bang for our buck.’”
“The common thread among our customers who have added additional RMGT horsepower is their commitment to excellence in print quality and their desire to have pressroom equipment that just runs and runs.” states Kian Hemmen, Western Region Sales Manager—RMGT, Print & Finishing Solutions. “It is also a statement on behalf of the prominent place offset printing continues to have in print manufacturing. In the hybrid print manufacturing environments for commercial printers, managing both offset and digital, we are pleased to see the economics of offset driving higher margins for our customers.”