Issued by: Kemtek


The company, The House of Advertising, operates as a below-the-line advertising agency and specialises in the design of magazine advertisements, the creation of brochures and newsletters and produces short-run outdoor signage and poster printing for both trade and corporate customers functioning across a wide variety of sectors.

Before installing the Truepress 344, The House of Advertising, which was established in 1992, imaged B2 plates on a Screen platesetter and then sent work out to a third party supplier to be printed and finished. Now, with its latest investment; which includes an Epson proofer, folder, guillotine and stitcher (also purchased through Kemtek), the company has cut its costs and increased business by installing the A3/A4 four-colour printing and finishing facilities necessary to bring its processes in-house.

Onika Pretorius, director of The House of Advertising says: “Our new printing and finishing division has improved our operation by allowing us to reduce our outsourcing costs significantly as well as helping us boost our work capacity. The system has so far attracted extra business from five existing clients, who originally used us for our design and large format printing services, and amounts to an increase of 10 percent in our total sales revenue from these clients.”

As a company of just seven employees, The House of Advertising initially thought a digital press would be the right machine for its needs as digital technology requires a minimal amount of expertise and intervention from the operator in order to print successfully. On closer inspection, the company found that most of the high-quality colour systems available were not cost effective past 500 sheets, due to the click charge and cost of consumables involved.

A usual print-run for The House of Advertising is between 1 000 and 10 000, so it became evident that an offset printer, which is more productive in producing higher volumes, would provide a better option. However, after road testing some smaller traditional lithographic presses, the company was put off by the size and industrious design of even the smallest makes and models. Even an experienced operator could spend up to half an hour maintaining and cleaning the press in between jobs. The House of Advertising therefore turned to long-term supplier Kemtek for advice where Mrs Pretorius, alongside fellow director Brett Pretorius, witnessed a demonstration of the Screen Truepress 344 at Kemtek's headquarters.

The Truepress 344 images at 2400 dpi resolution and prints using the conventional offset process with standard inks and water. It comes standard with a number of automated features such as ink and dampening control, pressure adjustment and paper presets.

Mrs Pretorius says: “Finding out about the Truepress 344 was a revelation as it seemed that here was a printer especially built for our requirements. It's an easy to use, digitally-driven offset press that can print higher volumes cost effectively and efficiently.

Thanks to its level of automation, the Truepress 344 is ready for action in around five minutes because the plates are imaged as part of a single-pass process and do not have to be punched, moved or handled after initially loading them into the machine. In addition, the Truepress 344 also requires only one operator at a time to operate it in order to keep it running to its maximum, which in a small company like ours is a real bonus. Productivity can be kept high with the minimum of fuss, and we have achieved 20,000 sheets in an eight hour day when running flat out.”

For The House of Advertising, who had always provided customers with print produced on the high-end lithographic presses owned by their suppliers, the true test on the system's capabilities came when Mrs Pretorius contacted her customers to find out their opinions on the standard of output.

She says: “Our customers would have scrutinised and compared the work we produce in-house to the standard achieved by the experienced, lithographic printing suppliers we previously used for our printing and finishing work. It was the ultimate test in quality for the Truepress 344 and our ability as print providers.

“We needn't have worried, however, as we were overwhelmed by our customers' reactions to the work that we produced in-house. Many clients said the output on the Truepress 344 rivalled, if not bettered, the print provided by our suppliers, and all the feedback we received was positive. Our customers also praised the fact we have reduced our turnaround times by around 35 percent since bringing our printing and finishing in-house. Having complete control over our production has meant we have the freedom to work to our own timetable so if we need to stay late to finish a job, then that's what we do and if we have a priority job, then we can prioritise the order of jobs we put through. We're now much more confident in the service we offer since expanding our facilities.”

Visit our PRESS OFFICE: Kemtek specialises in providing end-to-end solutions for bar coding, labelling, printing, scanning and related data management requirements and believes that service is the key to success. Their extensive South African branch network spans Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town- more....

[9 May 2008 11:28]

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