Komori operator for over 20 years, great machine, and definitely a money maker. Even seen avid Heidelberg operators very impressed with Komori performance.
We started up our first new Komori in Sept of 00. In 7 years we ran it 300 million impressions, and would have kept it but we were up against a glass ceiling, and in 08 we started up another new Komori this time an SP 440 which doubled our capacity. Our old one was traded in. (It is still running).
1. The Komori is very well built and required less service as it approached 300 million impressions that we would have had with a Heidelberg. (Based upon what Heidelberg users have told me)
2. The Komori has makeready automation "nailed". We change over job to job more that once per hour (full 4/4 MRs) and quite often paper changes, and the press still amazes us. We did not see the same performance when we watched Heidelberg users do MRs in their shops.
3. The Komori is an excellent printer with dots as sharp as or sharper than any other press we studied. We visited a lot of shops and watched a lot of presses MR and run.
Just my 2 cents worth. That and $5 will buy you a cup of coffee.
The last sheet-fed press I worked on was a French - Voirin Press ! - - so I decline giving my opinion on the merits of Heidelberg - V - Komori and the rest, but the Fidelity of Dot Reproduction on any press also depends on Plates/Blankets, Ink and Paper not forgetting the competence of the printer, neither of which any press manufacturer make.
I cannot believe manroland came up in a conversation about Heidelberg and Komori. All I can say is shame on you and open you own thread for MAN, the most over engineered over priced thing out of Germany since the Hindenberg! Oh BTW it only crashed once my MAN roland crashed all the time. Heidelberg and Komori are the 2 best sheetfed machines on the market period.
Barring the recent recall on the Toyota braking issues, we all know that Japanese made products are built to last. I believe this also holds true with their printing presses. Very little maintenance with superior results. Dot reproduction is almost a non-issue these days with CTP manipulation. In my opinion it is mostly about efficiency, where I think we can all agree that the Japanese excell at. It will always be a subjective argument that unfortunately will always be affected by emotions, instead of cold hard data.
You are going to see a lot of brand loyalty asking a question like that. I have seen (insert brand here) guys run down the competitions product while never having operated one or turned a wrench on one.
I serviced Komori presses for over 20 years, so i will say that they are among the finest printing machines on the planet, but that's about all I can say, as I have very little experience on a Heidelberg to compare it to.
Last edited by Servicetech; 10-24-2010 at 04:29 PM.
Reason: typo
I've been in the printing industry for over 30 years in production, production management and equipment sales. I spent 12 years at one of the major manufacturers as Product manager and District Sales and have learned all the machines inside and out. The "best" machine, no such thing. "Different horses for different courses" seems to fit. Much depends on your business mix, your location, your available pressmen and your expectations. I now consult on used equipment and can see the "bigger picture". Heidelbergs are fine machines for some Customers, Komoris are a super production machine, Mitsi's are fine, Rolands are very nice and KBA's are running beasts too. No one machine is best for everyone. I've seen dogs of all machines and have seen extreme performers of all makes too. The old saying (most likely coined by a German) that the Japanese machines are cheap or throw away machines just isn't true these days. As Mitsu guy stated, keep your mind open and do the research into what works best for you. And by the way, it pays to hire a qualified consultant to assist in your search! lol
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