Established more than 20 years ago, the Billingshurst company’s business model is gradually shifting from its litho roots to an all-digital operation. The ability of the Presstek 34DI to produce affordable high quality printing in short runs is the primary reason The Printed Word added the press to its production platform, explains David Pryer, who runs the firm with his brother Rob. “We were being hard hit by the shift to shorter runs, particularly with runs of 5,000 or less, and we needed to respond to that,” he says.

The Printed Word replaced an A1 conventional sheetfed litho press with the 34DI. A B2 press handles the decreasing number of long runs, while a number of colour and black & white digital toner-based presses are used for ultra-short runs and variable data. “We had nothing perfectly suited to handling medium runs of high quality print,” states Pryer, who has been closely monitoring the progress of Presstek DI presses. “We looked at a DI press several years ago. It wasn’t the right time for us then, but I kept a close eye on the market. When our conventional litho and toner-based digital presses could no longer handle a significant volume of our mid-range work, we decided to make the investment.”

Since installation, the Presstek 34DI has boosted The Printed Word’s production capacity and enhanced workflow flexibility. Pryer comments, “We recently moved premises, and that gave us the chance to re-assess our printing capabilities. In that assessment, we found the Presstek 34DI to be the best choice for us because of its fast job-to-job turnover, high quality of print, and the fact that it can be run by one operator. Its automation and waterless printing help make set up much simpler with less for the operator to worry about. The quality far exceeds our expectations, and is better than anyone else can produce. We also like the fact that it has a very small physical footprint.”

The Printed Word has recently added web-to-print to its array of services, and the 34DI has played a key role in ensuring that the volume of online print generated can be handled quickly and smoothly. “It has been great,” says Pryer. “We can quickly change over from job to job, and it is up and running in just a few minutes. Being able to quickly turn jobs around with the DI press enables us to accommodate more jobs each day.”

The company has been running Presstek’s chemistry-free Anthem plates on its litho presses for a number of years using a Presstek Dimension CTP system. That made the addition of the 34DI, which images chemistry-free plates on press, straightforward. Pryer adds: “We knew the chemistry-free process well. Both our Dimension and the DI press produce top quality plates, and we don’t have the hassle of disposing of chemicals.” Since the installation of the Presstek 34DI, Pryer has been delighted with the results. “It is a great machine,” he says. “It does everything we want it to. We haven’t had any problems at all.”

The Printed Word specializes in transactional and general commercial print for the financial sector with 15 employees and a £1.5m turnover.

(From left to right: David Pryer - Director The Printed Word and Andy Rowland, Press Minder)