Runing Cost of Offset press

[blazschmidt]

Hello,

We are Digital printer and are thinking on moving into offset. Now we are outsourcing to another printer but we would like like to have everything in-house.

What are your thoughts do you this is good decision or not?

We are looking B3 or maybe B2 size.

Also I really like to know what are running cost of Offset press beside machine operator.

What are other costs which I need to look after to be competitive and viable?

Best regards and thanks for your thoughts.

 

[Mike Herndon]

There are a lot of variables to consider when running an offset press. B-3 is 14” x 20” sheet size so that is a smaller possibly more economical sheet size.

Things to consider:

Press Manufacture
Hours of operation
Power/utilities cost- includes: water consumption (will you need water treatment?), kW per hour cost, HVAC requirements for the area, lighting around the press etc.
Chemistry such as Fountain solutions
Ink
Consumables such as blankets, plates, press packing, miscellaneous items such as feeder suckers, fountain foils, coatings, blanket wash, meter roller cleaners, roller conditioners, anti-skins for ink fountains, grease, press oil, chiller tank filters, anti marking systems, spray powder, new rollers at XX amount of impressions, lint free rags to clean the press with etc….the list goes on and on.

Will the press have a dryer? If so factor in additional utilities and dryer lamp replacement at XX amount of hours.

Then there’s the front end- plating, imposition that is needed to feed printing plates to the press.

Also have to budget in mechanical repairs, like all machines a press will fail at some point. This attrition rate may be higher at first with new operators.

Considering all of this it would be difficult to create a real cost without knowing some of the above and the cost for your area. Maybe reach out to a press manufacture and a consumables vendor to get some pricing and go through a thorough cost analysis.

Edit- don't forget environmental cost such as waste disposal, old blanket wash removal, local permitting if needed (we need lots of permits here) these cost will add up and are rarely considered in an ROI.

Good Luck-

Mike

 

[blazschmidt]

Hello,

Thank you all for answers.

We already have most of binding equipment (polar cutter, bourg, morgana folder, morgana creaser, perforator...) so this is already solved.

What do you think about DI to start in offset territory? Prices of this machines are very low these days. I know that plates are high because Press Tek is only supplier of these plates in the market. Plate is quoted around 6 Eur/pc. What do you think about this option? Is an option or not?

First we were looking at Ryobi 524 GX, for DI option we are looking also Ryobi 3404 DI.

What do you think.

I heard that some people are selling this machines because of expensive consumables and I would like to know is this is true or not?

I did the math and I think we would be competitive in (flyers, business cards, envelopes, greeting cards, folded leaflets, notepads). This is what we most do right now.

Only thing we are less competitive is (books, brochures and magazines), but this will be same in any true B3 offset press or am I wrong?

Thank you for your help and kindness. I know this is the most important thing now.

 

[aqazi81]

A good option may be to buy a SM52 or SM74. Much better build quality and reliable.

 

[blazschmidt]

Hello,

I know this machines. But price is DI press x 6.

What do you think of DI just to start in offset territory. Would we be competitive and cost efficent or not?

If this goes well we would normally buy bigger offset machine.

Best regards,

 

[aqazi81]

I do not have any experience with DI presses but you can go for a well maintained GTO press which is much cheaper in price than SM52.
As you have already mentioned for DI presses that consumables are hard to find and expensive too.

 

[chevalier]

I've worked with a DI press (SM74) stay away, far, far away! The repair costs on the imaging units will eat you alive. We could have bought 2-3 stand alone CtPs for what we paid in service calls and parts. We ended up buying a stand alone CtP and only using the DI imaging units as a backup. Buy a used CtP setup and use "process free" or process light" plates.

Beyond a press, it's consumables, personnel, etc...

You'll need a "real" prepress department and all the bells and whistles that go along with it in order support an offset press properly. That means software: trapping, RIP, layout, etc. then hardware" CtP, server(s), workstation(s), proofer(s), etc. AND person(s) who can run all of it.

A thought:
You may be better off outsourcing your offset jobs to somebody else until you've achieve revenue from these type of jobs to make the investment worth while into owning an offset press and all of it's auxiliary requirements.