MetroMail orders ROLAND 700 DirectDrive Press

MetroMail, one of the UK's largest direct mail production companies, has confirmed it has placed an order for an 8-colour ROLAND700 DirectDrive perfecting press. Described as a full turn-key solution, the order also includes an Agfa CTP Platesetter, Apogee prepress server, Tharsten MIS system and a Wohlenberg guillotine and Baumann paper handling system. The ROLAND 700 DirectDrive and all pre- and post-press hardware and software will be installed at MetroMail's 140,000 square-foot facility in Seaham, County Durham in September 2011.

Says Alan Purvis, Managing Director, MetroMail: "My strategy since being appointed to Managing Director of MetroMail in 2005 has been to become the most profitable and efficient direct mailing house in the UK. Six years down the line, we are definitely on our way there and we see the installation of the ROLAND 700 DirectDrive press as an absolutely key component of this strategy over the next few years and beyond."

A fully digital house to date, with an impressive portfolio of cut-sheet and roll-to-roll digital presses, Mr Purvis says the reason for ordering a commercial litho press at this point was two-fold: "Firstly we wanted to be able to offer all our direct mail clients a complete printing service in-house, so this new press will remove their (and our) need to outsource any printing element of a direct mail campaign.

"Secondly, the ROLAND 700 DirectDrive is an outstanding piece of printing technology with simultaneous plate changing and very short make-ready times, which gives us a highly versatile machine for both micro-run and long run printing. There is a perception in the market that a digital house buying a litho press is going against the grain. However, we believe hardware and software should be the vehicle for achieving strategy and not the drivers of it. Our strategy is customer driven and the purchasing of a litho press has been in our business plan for five years. We were never prepared to buy the same old press as the rest of the market. We needed the very best, most efficient and most cutting edge press – something that would challenge the market but also, critically, our views on what was possible in print today. The DirectDrive has done and will continue to do exactly that. We are like no other business and the DirectDrive is like no other press. I believe we will be a great combination."

The ROLAND 700 DirectDrive is a multi-tasking, multiple-award winning champion and the world's first offset litho press with an independent electronic drive on the plate cylinder and a patented double-clutch system. This dramatically reduces make-ready times, making it perfect for printers who require short run productivity with uncompromised printing quality and ensuring no other press can match the ROLAND 700 DirectDrive for high quality micro run production.

manroland's unique DirectDrive technology means plate changing can be carried out simultaneously on 2 to 12 printing units at the same time other make-ready functions are being performed, offering "zero time" plate changing. The ROLAND 700 DirectDrive also comes with a range of manroland's QuickChange modules as standard, including QuickChange Job, QuickChange Color and automated ink profiling.

Says Adam Robotham, Sheetfed Sales Manager, manroland GB: "MetroMail is exactly the type of company the DirectDrive press has been designed for – one that is very innovative, forward thinking and expects its technology to meet exacting demands and make it a real profit. I believe our ability to provide such a unique, flexible printing technology supported by a full turn-key solution that included best-in-class hardware and software from our industry partners, won us the order in the end. Sourcing this entire product range from a single supplier took a lot of pain out of the process for MetroMail. The fact that manroland is not tied to any one pre- or post-press partner meant we could genuinely source the strongest products in the marketplace for MetroMail and ensure the whole production chain would be as integrated and efficient as possible."

Concludes Mr Purvis: "In addition to the technology, we were also very impressed with the whole manroland team. Their knowledge, drive and enthusiasm right through the sales process was outstanding. Crucially, they were also very open to some of what must seemed at times crazy ideas that we were throwing their way about how to run this area of our business. At every stage, they were focused and involved in guiding but not directing our decisions. This gave us the confidence to know that they were a solid, reliable business partner we could work with over the long term. This was also a major consideration in our final decision to place the order for a new litho press with manroland."