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ALPHA COLOUR PRINTERS OF GLOUCESTER JOIN THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION

Alpha Colour Printers of Gloucester have invested in a new state-of-the-art, ecology-friendly digital press capable of printing short runs of high-quality documents at economical prices.

The latest Konica Minolta Bizhub Pro C6500e has expanded the Quedgeley firm’s capacity, acting as a complete document preparation system, with trimming folding and stapling functions.

“For short print runs, from just one upwards, digital printers score over conventional presses because there is no need for plates, machine preparation or after-print cleaning like conventional presses,” said Alpha MD Jeff Williams.

“This is as close as you can get to litho print, making it ideal for short runs of very high quality documents like conference literature, annual reports and directors’ seminars documents.

“There has been a lot of debate within the industry in recent years about the commercial desirability and viability of digital printing. In the past they have been seen as something to fear.

“But I think in this business it has been proved time and time again in the past that firms who don’t keep abreast of technology suffer in the long run. I think this will give added value to the service we provide for our customers.”

The six figure investment underlines Alpha Colour’s commitment to keep pace with ever changing technology. The five metre state-of-the-art digital printer was installed and supplied by Stonehouse based Topaz Business Systems.

Jeff added: “We have waited until now to go digital because the quality has got so much better and Topaz offered the training and product knowledge and are committed like ourselves to achieving the very best standards. This was definitely the right time.”

“The printer contains a high definition polymerised toner which is environmentally friendly and also uses less electrical power and does not get as hot as alternative systems, features which are becoming more and more important to our customers.”

“We can accommodate a maximum paper size up to 487 X 330mm which means we can work up to and including tabloid newspaper format.

“For larger print runs, our conventional presses work out more cost effective, justifying the extra costs of setting up, which means that whatever our customers’ needs - we can supply the best quality job at the right price.”

Rory Atkins, MD of Topaz, said: “Topaz respects Alpha Colour as Gloucestershire’s premier lithographic printer. We see significant synergies in developing a partnership with Alpha on their first investment in digital print and look forward to building a long term business partnership with them.

“This Konica Minolta system is the latest generation of digital presses bringing the quality of work to a level that will get past the most critical eye of someone like Jeff.”

The new press boosts Alpha Colour’s already impressive line up of print technology, which includes two Heidelberg CD 74 Five colour Perfector presses, one of which can print on both sides of the paper at once and, when it was installed in 2004, was the first in production anywhere in the world.