European Graphic Studies, EGESA, a Madrid company with more than twenty years of history in the graphic market, is recognized for its seriousness and the high level of commitment it acquires with its clients. Specialized in the commercial market and with a complete machinery park, it has recently decided to take a qualitative leap and quantitative in its offer of services with the incorporation of a KOMORI five color offset machine + varnish that has the innovative H-UV technology.
Long journey for offset: more than five and a half million sheets in less than two months
Quality, sustainability and offering a comprehensive service to customers have been the pillars on which EGESA has grown since its foundation in 1994. For this reason, investments in new technologies and the certification of all its processes have been a constant that they have never given up. "Our objective has always been to offer a complete and comprehensive service, that is why we have been growing with our clients integrating everything that they were demanding of us: production, quality, small runs ..." Comment Ignacio Fajardo and Pablo Mayoral, CEO and Chief Financial Officer, respectively, of EGESA.
A complete and comprehensive service, with high added value.
Thus, in its more than five thousand square meters, the company has five machines -34 printing units- operating in three shifts, direct prepress-printing connection through CIP3, centralized ink supply equipment, a complete finishing section and two digital printing equipment for short runs. “What we lacked was the binding,” the EGESA representatives explain, “but we have just reached an agreement with a bookbinding company very close to our facilities, which will allow us to also offer this service to our customers ”.
And, its most valuable resource, a human team made up of 68 people belonging to the three companies that make up the group: European Graphic Studies, focused on printing; Doin Graphic Solutions dedicated to prepress, editorial and all the digital subject; Y European Folds which takes care of the whole post-press issue. "In addition, we have agreements with other companies such as Primera Línea Visual with which we collaborate on the subject of displays, POS, advertising at the place of sale ...".
One more step in this philosophy has been the recent incorporation of a offset printing machine KOMORI, from five colors + varnish, with H-UV technology, specifically a KOMORI GL54HC H-UV, which has replaced one of the existing machines. “One of the reasons that led us to decide on this new technology was the possibility that we offered to open us up to new things, new markets and new products thus expanding our portfolio of services. In our workshop we already have all the necessary machinery to cover any need of our customers in the commercial field and we consider being able to offer new things: printing on plastic, polyester ..., in short, applying all the advantages offered by the new and innovative H-UV technology and that we did not have before with greasy ink ”, says Julio Pacheco, EGESA's production director.
"In addition, -continues Pablo Mayoral- with this incorporation we want to add a point of quality, offer something different, an added value to customers, which complements what we already have. We have wanted to incorporate the quality, versatility and reliability that the new machine offers to the production capacity that we already had ”.
In the two months what has been running, five and a half million sheets have been thrownBoth new jobs achieved thanks to the possibilities offered by this new technology, as well as jobs that were already hired and have been derived to the new machine due to its speed and reliability: "We do new things that before we could not offer our customers", affirm the representatives of EGESA.
H-UV technology: a new printing system
H-UV is an innovative offset printing system, KOMORI exclusive, which uses a H-UV lamp and high sensitivity H-UV ink. In fact, with just one lamp mounted at the outlet, this system offers high print quality and reliability, as well as economical and sustainable performance.
The delivery times are substantially shorter than in conventional printing, because printed jobs undergo an instantaneous in-line curing process thus allowing finishing processes such as cutting, punching or folding to be carried out immediately. In relation to this aspect, the CEO of EGESA, Ignacio Fajardo, comments: “One of the advantages that we are noticing is a faster production especially when it comes to printing more difficult papers, especially porous ones, which were very problematic before and now, with this technology, backgrounds or any type of printing can be printed and they come out completely dry, so they can be sent immediately to binding " . In fact, the type of support is no longer a problem in an H-UV machine that can print PP, PE, PET, PVC, metallic foil and synthetic paper, among many others, without the damage associated with the heat emitted in a UV process. conventional.
"It is a machine that provides many mechanical improvements -aint Enrique Rodríguez García, Director General of OMC, the distribution company in Spain of KOMORI, -but H-UV also makes the entire preparation process much faster: get the tone (the inks are pigmented and it is much easier to achieve the desired density) and from there go to cruising speed and start throw. This technology makes it possible to do very difficult jobs in a very simple way ”.
Others highlights of this innovative printing system are all related to the environment and sustainable production: it does not use antimaculating powders, thus avoiding the problems associated with the dispersion of particles, in addition to generate a quarter of CO2 emissions than those caused with a conventional UV curing system. On the other hand, by not emitting ozone and emitting very little heat, its installation does not need air conditioning equipment with air ducts, which makes the installation of an H-UV system very affordable. "Ultimately, this technology allows us to make the leap to UV technology without having to go through traditional UV" Enrique Rodríguez points out.
Regarding the H-UV inks used, provide a wider color gamut and higher brightness in addition to offering good transfer, low viscosity and good machine performance. And while they are less economical than conventional UV inks, they make up for that difference in part by the lower ink consumption but especially for the production increase and for the possibility to carry out work that would not be feasible with the conventional system. "You have to consider the process as a whole to be able to make a real assessment of the cost of production" points out the director general of OMC.
More quality, more productivity and better service
At EGESA they basically have two types of clients: companies that demand high volume and companies that demand high quality, belonging to almost all sectors, telecommunications, insurance, fast food ..., but also museums and publishing houses. This diversity, although perhaps one of the reasons that has allowed them to save the crisis with all the necessary adjustments, also requires them to take exquisite care of the client, offering them much more until they become practically a partner.
"Increase productivity and adjust all other factors to each specific situation, flexibility and ability to react to jobs of millions of copies or very small print runs, investment in technology but also in logistics and distribution, expand the commercial aspect, both with own hiring as well as with agreements with third parties…, these are some aspects that we have taken care of especially in the company " explains Ignacio Fajardo.
"Ultimately, we want to offer more quality, more productivity and better service –Concludes Pablo Mayoral- And this is where the new machine sits. In these two months a lot of expectation has been raised and now they have to start to show results ”.
