Oosterhout, March 2014
- Q.I. Press Controls North America management is delighted with a key order from McLaren Press Graphics, a leading commercial printer based in Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada. Q.I. Press Controls is pleased to announce the recent sale of the advanced, latest generation closed-loop mRC-3D full-colour register system complete with cut-off controls for McLaren’s DGM430 coldset single-width press line.
Replacement investment
For McLaren Press Graphics this investment replaces their existing register system, which did not include cut-off controls. Drew McLaren, President of McLaren Press Graphics: “We were one of the first commercial printers to install registration controls on a non-heatset press back in the 1990’s, and we recognized the ROI immediately. Given the relatively high cost of this technology at the time, we still experienced significant cost savings to justify this investment. This was achieved despite the fact that we were running lower cost uncoated substrates than typical heat-set installations, who were the first companies to invest in this technology because they were running higher cost coated stocks yielding greater savings and quicker ROI’s”. With Q.I. Press Controls’ mRC-3D they wanted to resolve their cut-off waste issues while taking advantage of the new camera technology to further enhance their quality process and improve their waste numbers. Drew McLaren: “Originally we didn’t realize how different the product was from other brands on the market.” What McLaren wanted was an all-in-one, cost effective, state-of-the-art solution for their coldset application. They needed to look no further than Q.I Press Controls’ mRC-3D register system. The mRC-3D’s depth-scanning principle is ideal for their DGM430 press configuration, which has some fairly long web leads. The mRC-3D functions perfectly in such an environment. Drew McLaren: “Q.I. Press Controls will allow us to close the loop on our press controls as our current system does not address the bottleneck of manual cut-off controls. We had been looking for a system that would address this weak link in our automation and Q.I. Press Controls’ mRC-3D system will allow us to now include this component, while addressing registration controls that perform quicker and provide better feedback to our press operators.”
McLaren’s DGM production
McLaren’s DGM430
McLaren’s coldset production line is a DGM430 with a 89 cm (35”) web width and 57.8 cm (22 ¾”) cut-off. The press line consists of seven four high colour units with press vintages dating from 1994, 1998 and 2008 and has two (½ and ¼) DGM 1035 folders. The most widely utilized four colour units will be equipped with a mRC-3D register camera, with the AIMS (Automatic Ink Mist Shield). The total order comprises eight mRC-3D register cameras including processors and operating system. This fully automated closed-loop platform controls the double-sided full-colour register of the four printing webs as well as the cut-off register in the DGM folders.
Important link
This order was finalized with the assistance of Graphic Machinery Sales, the agent for Q.I. Press Controls in Canada. As part of Q.I. Press Controls’ worldwide network, this company was an important link in capturing the order. Graphic Machinery Sales will also play a key role during the implementation phase as well as in providing local service. The system will be fully integrated into McLaren’s press in the Spring of 2014 complete with a full training program.
McLaren Press Graphics
McLaren Press Graphics, a full-service, family owned printing company was founded in 1977, managed by two generations of the McLaren family. With the combination of prepress, coldset web, sheetfed offset, and print finishing, this quality-conscious company has expanded to become one of the leading 50 print companies in Canada. It was amongst the first in Canada to introduce an automatic register system on its coldset web press. McLaren Press Graphics processes upwards of 3,000 orders per year, including full-colour newspapers and periodicals with circulation figures of ranging between 3,000 and 75,000 copies. Furthermore the company produces flyers, brochures, magazines and specials with circulations of up to one million; all this adds up to an output of more than1.4 billion pages annually. McLaren employs a staff of 55 employees and has a separate division for digital publishing and online revenue generating products for their publishing clients.
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