Need suggestions on a starter 4 color offset press

[raminmd]

We are a digital print and mail shop. We started as a mail shop 25 years ago, added digital printing a few years ago. Overall, we do well in the market segment we cater to.

However, we see that we either lose a lot of high volume jobs to other printers or we outsource them and not make much. We also have clients that want offset quality and are willing to pay more for it.

I am exploring the option of investing in a starter offset press 4 color and a good operator to run it. I am willing to spend upto $2,000-$3,000 a month (lesser than that would be great) leasing the machine and I know I will have to pay extra for the operator. Is my budget realistic? Are there even presses in that price range. Used equipment is fine with me as well as long as the quality is great.

I would need it to run at least 12 x 18 or 13 x 19 sheets upto 16pt gloss cover. Initially (in the first year or so), we will not be running more than a few thousand a month...so speed will not be that big an issue. Ideally, I wanted to see if any of the offset shops around here would be willing to sell their equipment (if they are not keeping them busy) but all the shops I Know either don't have good equipment or don't have any to sell. Our typical large quantity jobs would range from a 1,000 postcards to 10,000 or so. Currently, we put all of those on our digital press and pay a click charge or outsource them.

Any advice will be appreciated.

 

[RGPW17100]

You will have to have aqueous coating or UV offline coating as well. The coating will remove sand paper feel you get from the spray powder. You also will have to make plates which will cost more. Not sure if DI quality is much better then digital. A SM52 with a coater is what you want. You might be able to get that into the budget you mentioned with all the shops that have gone out of business. I am sure there are Ryobi machines that have online coating that would work as well. Google Ryobi 525 GX LX. This would be a good machine but I am not sure the cost

 

[larryg4b]

I would suggest a Ryobi 3404 DI. It is a digital offset press that images the plates on the press. You won't need any other prepress equipment such as an imagesetter, plate burner, etc. Since you do not have press experience it will be helpful that there will be no stripping and plate making. I will handle the sheet size and paper you need too. It is also in your sweet spot for quantity. You can buy these used in your price range, but make sure you get a later model with low plate counts. A good dealer or reseller can also train someone to run this press. I've seen shops transition 1 and 2 color operators to run this, I've even seen some owners run it with no previous press experience. This is a digital press but it is true offset quality with very fast set ups and easy to run. If you buy traditional offset you will need to have pre press equipment. Then you will have to decide what plate making system you will need to buy. With the 3404 you will only need a good paper cutter. These a presses are also marketed by Kodak and Presstek.