HSW Print will take the UK’s first Speedmaster CX 102

A Welsh company will take the first Speedmaster CX 102 sold in the UK. Brothers Malcolm and David Hackman of HSW Print placed a £1.8m order for the new press, a five-colour with coater, yesterday at Ipex.

The CX 102 is a mid range B1 press which sits between the CD102 and XL 105 technology, a 16,500sph model featuring a new robust and vibration-resilient side frame. Having its world premiere at the show, it has turned heads and generated orders but HSW Print is the first UK printer to buy. Its press will be delivered in September.

HSW Print and the Heidelberg CX 102

Currently HSW Print has 17 B1 units, a ten-, five- and two-colour press. The company has retained efficiency by continually investing in up to date equipment and its four year old five-colour was due for replacement. The brothers considered the XL 105 but opted instead for the CX 102 because it would allow them to retain a common plate size and production flexibility.

"Plates are taken from the Suprasetter and delivered to whichever press makes sense and which fits the schedule at the time," says Malcolm Hackman. "If we opted for the larger XL 105 plate size we would lose flexibility and it is a more expensive machine. The CX 102 ticks all the boxes."

The company has been very pleased with the CD 102 it replaces, describing it as "faultless; it is well engineered, has superb controls and is very efficient". For this reason and the rapid response service and support levels, Heidelberg retains pole position when the Hackmans come to select new equipment.

"Times have been tough and you can't take your eyes off the ball for a moment. We have turned our business round, returning to moderate profit in the year to September 2009 and well on target to achieve a result as good or better this year," says Malcolm Hackman. "The work is there but the pricing is such that you have to run lean. You don't want to lay off staff and you can't return a press for a month so you have to add value and attract the right work."

Some staff from HW Print - a company which produces books, catalogues and brochures - will visit Ipex this weekend, travelling at the companies expense to see the show and to view the technology they will soon have in their portfolio.

In readiness for this production boost, the company replaced a Topsetter with a Suprasetter last year increasing hourly output from ten to 30 plates, and three new folders - a combination, continuous feeder and a pallet loading model to give maximum flexibility. The investment is funded by SocGen.