As a result of these latest purchases, there are now two Ferag lines and stackers on an existing KBA press; one Müller Martini line on the manroland press and a Müller Martini inserter.
Substantial additions and renovations have also been completed to transform the production and office environments.
According to Stephen, the greatest challenge was to ensure that customer’s requirements were met during the building extension projects and the commissioning of the new press and mailroom equipment. He also reveals that management and production teams have been expanded. ‘This is to ensure better control of the business to accommodate the increased production requirements,’ he explains. ‘Thanks to this expansion, we’re able to increase the staff complement significantly, and we’ll require additional services and labour from the surrounding community.’
Adds Conrad Rademeyer, MD of Paarl Coldset, ‘The facility has been upgraded to the latest health and safety standards. The plant has received ISO 9001 certification, demonstrating our high level of efficiency.’
Other improvements include new prepress software which manages page flow from publishers to print, new plate lines that double the speed of existing lines, the installation of a world-class maintenance and production system and the introduction of greater generator capacity to ensure zero downtime.
‘We’re fully committed to growing the print industry in South Africa and this is reflected through these capital investments,’ Conrad continues. ‘We’re also focusing on the expansion of our coldset business in the rest of South Africa.’