Four years’ worth of UV ink-use data is a key to profitability for Phoenix commercial printing firm operating the Sentinel iPro on its sheetfed-offset press.
CARROLLTON, TX – August 19, 2024 – Sentinel, a global leader in automated ink management systems, announces the successful installation of a second Sentinel iPro ink-management system to Courier Graphics Corp. In May 2024, the second Sentinel iPro was installed on another of the firm’s eight-color, Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 106 sheetfed-offset presses featuring LED-UV technology. Based in Phoenix, AZ, Courier Graphics uses the press to print covers for myriads of books, catalogs, magazines and other publications reproduced there.
“The older of the two full-size (40-inch) presses is being sold this fall, leaving one SM XL 106 model along with a manroland/Goss LITHOMAN heatset web press running at the plant in Phoenix, Arizona,” reports Production Manager Michael Meza. The sheetfed offset presses complement the large web-offset press on Courier’s 75,000-square-foot production floor in the desert valley.
Courier Graphics runs a variety of sheet sizes, including 25-by-38 and 28-by-40 inches. They typically operate double eight-hour shifts Monday through Friday, with some 75 full-time employees producing direct-mail pieces as well. “If we get super busy during the fourth quarter, we will move to 10-hour shifts and work weekends,” adds Meza.
Laying down UV ink
Daily tracking of ink usage is one of Sentinel’s major benefits, according to Meza, because real-time measuring helps consumable pricing to be more accurate and competitive. “We load the data into our monthly KPIs [key performance indicators], which then factors average prices based on total pounds of ink per one thousand sheets. UV ink is expensive,” he observes, “so having such precise metrics really adds up.” In addition, constant monitoring alerts assistant operators when ink needs replenishment. “This Sentinel feature saves our helpers from walking up and down the [press] catwalk,” explains Meza.
Press efficiency is enhanced, too, points out David Doucette, Director of Sales for Sentinel: “Our system design includes an agitator to keep ink against the fountain ball. This eliminates cupping in the well, which can be a big deal when running UV inks that cure instantaneously.”
Not only is Sentinel’s auto-loading, cartridge-based solution simple to use, but “it works well — mechanically and functionally,” concludes Meza. “From a ROI [return on investment] perspective, the performance is consistent, and maintenance is low. We are very pleased with the system.”
“Courier is an offset-only print and finishing operation,” he says of the third-generation, family-owned company. (Scott Carritt, a grandson of the founder, now serves as President.) “We don’t own any digital printing equipment, and some people think that’s crazy,” admits Meza. “But we ‘stay in our lane’ and do what we do,” which has been getting done quite nicely since 1976.