Thomson Print & Packaging sees integration as key to digital investment

Print Solutions

Thomson Print & Packaging will take delivery of a Versafire CV five colour digital press in the next few weeks. In readiness, it is upgrading its workflow with Digital Print Manager and adding the Heidelberg Digital Front End RIP.

This purchase was a joint decision by Jim Thomson, managing director, and his son Michael who has recently been promoted from digital print manager to production manager.

‘We are replacing a five year old Ricoh machine and the key to our decision was integration,’ said Jim Thomson. ‘Heidelberg can give us the workflow connection that will allow us to fingerprint our digital as well as our litho presses and that means better colour and quality control. In future we will use the Versafire as a proofing press as well as a printing press.’

Michael Thomson added, ‘This latest generation press features a suction feeder which will ensure there is no marking and the fact it can handle up to 360 g/m2 stock, compared to 300 g/m2 on the Ricoh it replaces, is a big advantage especially for products like business cards. The fifth colour wasn’t key to our buying decision but being able to add a varnish or to use white will be useful and the larger format means we can proof work and have a realistic idea of what the result will look like when printed on the matched digital and litho presses.’

It is two years ago that the Edinburgh business added a Speedmaster XL 75-5+L press and Suprasetter CTP device. The company specified Instant Gate and Color Assistant Pro to give quick and easy access to job data and the ability to switch and manage runs as well as calibrating and controlling colour on press. Now it will adopt the same control and ease of operation to the digital arm of the business.

‘When we bought the first digital press five years ago we didn’t have a job for it but we wanted to safeguard our business by being able to offer short runs. The digital business has developed and we believe it will expand even further with this latest purchase,’ concluded Jim.