SHERBURNE – The Mid-York Press, Inc. is taking advantage of the “down” market by upgrading and expanding its plant and equipment. The company will purchase $3.5 million in new manufacturing equipment including being the U.S. launch customer for two items and will spend approximately $650,000 in facility expansion.
The company will be adding two new BOBST Blanking Die Cutters. The Expert-cut 106PER die cutters are the latest auto-stripping die cutters offered by the Swiss company. The die cutters are used to cut boxes and cartons out of printed fiberboard on which the company prints. According to Vice President and COO Pat Dowdall, the new, much larger machines will greatly increase capacities.
“These die cutters are much larger than any we have ever had at Mid-York aand have required the 3,200 sq. ft. addition to the northeast corner of our manufacturing plant,” Dowdall said. “Our current building wasn’t able to accommodate the height requirements of the new equipment. Despite the sheer size of the new equipment, the machines are extremely flexible and will allow us to do more work and set-up each job much faster,” Dowdall added.
In addition to the die cutters, Mid-York will also purchase one and possibly two new folder-gluers from Bobst. The gluers (which are used to fold and glue together the 100-200 million boxes and cartons Mid-York manufactures each year) will be the first to arrive. The first, a Bobst Masterfold, will be the first installation in the United States with the new Speedwave set-up device.
“We were taken with the Speedwave during a demonstration at Bobst’s Lausanne, Switzerland factory,” Shawn Aikins, vice president and plant manager, commented, “but not for the same reasons they were thinking. They were promoting the high speed of the system, but what really sold us is the reduction in set-up time. In our particular business, it is our close attention to very fast set-ups that has been our key to success.” The company will also add a second Heidelberg Diana Pro folder-gluer to replace an older Heidelberg gluer.
Finally, the company will be the U.S.’s launch customer for the Xerox iGen4 110 digital Press with in-line die-cutting. According to President and CEO Bob Tenney, the company is most excited about the possibilities with this new press.
“Until the iGen4 110, most digital presses weren’t up to the rigors of printing on fiberboard and other thicker, heavier substrates. This press seems to be the real deal. The in-line die cutter will allow us to do short-run folding cartons for our pharmaceutical customers on orders of 15,000 cartons or less at a lower cost. If we combine this with the iGen4’s capabilities to print 4/4 colors in one pass and very fast set-up time, the machine will really produce. Combined with the ability to individualize every single piece printed using VDP (Variable Data Printing), we will see opportunities open up in new markets that until now did not exist in an efficient manner.” The company will set-up a new “digital” shop with a 6,000 sq. ft. addition to the building on the adjacent property. The building may also house additional digital, offset and bindery equipment in the future.
The Mid-York Press has a history of successfully expanding in the “worst of times” and believes now is again the right time. “There is always a risk when you decide to expand, especially in a down economy, but we believe we have reached a bottom and the pricing opportunities are too good to pass up. We hope again to be one of the leaders of the recovery,” Tenney said.
The project is being financed by the Bankers at M&T Bank with the Village of Sherburne UDAG fund supplying supplemental low-interest financing.
The Mid-York Press, Inc. is a highly specialized supplier of packaging to the cosmetic, pharmaceutical and food industries on a national level in addition to supplying commercial printing services to local industries.