New Komori Press Brings New Capabilities to Slate Group
From its beginnings as a small, local, privately-owned company, Slate Group, a full-service commercial printer based in Lubbock, Texas, has evolved into a national print provider offering a comprehensive portfolio of services and a creative, client-focused approach to printing. Slate Group positions itself as a value-added resource to clients, having moved long ago from quantity printing to quality printing. Committed to its motto of “Think Big, Print Big,” a visitor to the company’s website will find an entire section devoted to unique print applications designed to inspire creativity. This creative, client-focused approach has led to Slate Group being one of the largest daily FedEx shippers for a diverse group of print buyers, as well as provider of a host of commercial print services to an impressive client base in health care, financial services and academia.
To further enhance its reputation for offering new, innovative applications that explore new ways to produce beautiful and engaging marketing materials, Slate Group recently purchased a five-color Komori Lithrone G40 press with coater (GL540C) and Komori’s LED UV curing system. A Komori customer for 20 years, the company also owns two Komori 28" presses. With the addition of the GL540C with LED UV, Slate Group now offers several interesting finishing techniques and options that include spot UV, soft touch coating and more on difficult stocks, like uncoated or matte. The LED UV inks cure almost instantly, significantly shortening overall production cycle time and making it possible to get jobs out the door quickly.
“We’ve enjoyed a great relationship with Komori. However, before making our decision on a new press, we still did our due diligence,” said Brad Phinny, COO for Slate Group. “What we learned was there wasn’t another manufacturer that compared to the finishing capabilities of Komori’s LED UV curing system. It was a big selling point for us. The inks deliver an amazing crispness that is visually compelling and fully supports our creative, client-focused approach. The ability to complete our jobs so quickly was also a deciding factor. It allows us to remain more competitive on turnaround time and ship products out in under three to five days.”
Slate Group has also begun to capture a new market in short-run packaging due to the capabilities of the GL540C. Being able to print on 40-point board gave the company the opportunity to start producing short-run packaging for a healthcare client selling products on Amazon and QVC. “We are really excited about the expanded capabilities we can now bring in house, which are making it possible to offer our clients a complete turnkey operation,” said Phinny.
“We are very pleased the GL540C is helping Slate Group enhance the already stunning materials it offers its customers,” said Mark Milbourn, vice president of sales at Komori America. “The Lithrone G40’s ease of use and ability to produce exceptional applications make it the perfect press to support an innovative company like Slate Group.”
The preceding press release was provided by a company unaffiliated with Packaging Impressions. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of Packaging Impressions.
