Koral Graphics, a digital printshop in Alappuzha of Kerala, has installed the Shinohara 66 offset press at its plant in Kochi. Founded by Shaji Anthony with two of his colleagues, the company has been meeting the printing demands of Kochi for over a decade. Anthony feels that the people of Kerala seek highquality graphics and Shinohara 66 is an easy way to meet this demand. He says, “We are the pioneers in digital printing and have been a short-run print solutions provider for more than 14 years. We opted for the high-quality offset press and installed it at our third plant spread over 5,500 square feet in Kochi.”
“In October, we evaluated and purchased a Shinohara 66 for its attractive features. Shinohara 66 is capable of producing a range of multicolor work including brochures and commercial work. We are able to complete 30 to 40 jobs of 1,000 sheets in a day. The two primary technologies featured in the press are the Shinohara Pre-inking System (SPIS) and Shinohara Semi-automatic Plate Changer (SPC). SPIS provides accurate color on the next job in fewer sheets while SPC removes the need for plate bending and makes the use of standing plates easier. It substantially reduces the time required for the makeready adjustments before the printing,” says Anthony.
Using the information from CIP3 data, SPIS automatically creates the ideal ink film on the ink rollers and then starts printing. At the press operator’s end, the press features a large, crystal display touchscreen, ensuring that all the press functions are at an operator’s fingertips. Koral Graphics is also equipped with two other plants spread over 2,500 square feet at Alappuzha and a 1,000 square feet production unit at Kochi. The digital press Xerox 5252 is housed at the Alappuzha plant which later upgraded its capabilities with Kerala’s first Ricoh Pro C751 and a Pro 907EX in 2013. Apart from a digital press, the plant is also equipped with finishing equipment such as a cutting machine, thermal lamination machines and a binding kit. It has also added a plotter printer from Ricoh to meet the demands of architectural and CAD printing applications.
Apart from Koral Graphics, Anaswara Offset – a multi-award winning organization – is another user of the Shinohara press for over seven years. “Shinohara Machinery was out of the scene for a long period and shut shop in 2011, which was a loss to the printing industry. Today, Shinohara Japan is a wholly-owned subsidiary of China-based Hans-Gronhi. Shinohara brand products are classy and held in high regard. Soon, there will be an inauguration by Monotech Systems and Koral Graphics,” concludes Anthony.
