Heidelberg Anicolor Technology: THE Flexible, Cost-Efficient Solution for Your Business Success

Anicolor, Heidelberg’s innovative and unique zoneless short inking unit with dampening system, printers can give customer what they expect: perfect offset quality at “digital” prices.

The Anicolor secret is a technology that cuts costs dramatically. With a Speedmaster SM 52 Anicolor, whether a printer prints brochures or flyers, invitations or business cards, he stands to profit from minimum waste and reduced setup times. What’s more, the Anicolor inking unit ensures outstanding consistency in the production run, coupled with outstanding ease-of-use. Another advantage of the Speedmaster SM 52 Anicolor is that it enables a printer to use conventional printing plates.

Cost Efficiency Made Easy

An Anicolor press begins to pay for itself from the first job on. Up to 40 percent shorter makeready times mean a printer can print more jobs each day at lower costs and enjoy 25 percent greater press capacity for more jobs each year. The AutoPlate clamping system, blanket/impression cylinder wash-up device and a startup sequence of just one minute mean that the Anicolor delivers extremely fast job changes. Short makeready times boost profits. It makes no difference whether the next job in line involves higher or lower ink consumption. Up to 90 percent less waste cuts paper costs significantly, an important factor in short-run printing. In relative terms, the shorter the run, the greater the startup costs.

“At first I laughed,” said Tony Barongi, plant manager at C&S Press in Orlando, FL, when the benefits of Heidelberg’s Anicolor press technology were originally presented to him. “Ten-sheet makereadies? You had to show me. Then we brought our own jobs to a demo and became true believers.”

Flexibility Beyond the Short-Run Segment

Anicolor delivers stable inking with minimal set-up. The Anicolor short zoneless inking unit is designed to deliver consistent volumes of ink. The even transfer of precise ink volumes is achieved using a format-sized screen roller located between the chambered blade and the inking form roller. The inking form roller, also format-sized, provides each element with the precise volume of ink required for each revolution. Ink that is not used is fed back into the chambered blade. This prevents ink from building up in the inking unit, even with complicated forms involving extremely low or varying ink coverage.

Used in conjunction with Heidelberg’s proven Alcolor dampening system, users can achieve a consistent ink/water balance in seconds. This design feature is unique. Printers benefit from high process reliability and excellent inking quality in standardized print jobs. Thanks to the consistent inking it delivers, the Speedmaster SM 52 with Anicolor inking unit is a lucrative choice for extremely cost-efficient longer runs, too.

“Heidelberg’s SM 42 Anicolor press looks like a conventional press but is actually a digital press that uses ink instead of toner, and minus the click and consumable charges,”Barongi said. “It’s the best investment we’ve ever made.”