Since it was founded in 1950, Toyo Printing has built its reputation on art publications and package printing. Their motto is "Making a positive contribution to society through printing."
The company's Kawagoe Plant, which continues to develop the company's offset printing business, celebrates its 15th anniversary in 2006. We asked Teruhisa Kinoshita, the administrative manager of the plant's manufacturing division, for some background and details on the company's use of S-PRIA.
When did you first use Sumitomo blankets?
Kinoshita: It all started when I began using SR-550 on BT2 web press. In the beginning, regardless of blanket manufacturers, the quality of rubber wasn't very good. When you printed over 200,000 copies without the printing image on lower units, the surface rubber of the blanket would peel off. Also, the solvent penetration into the blanket caused poor print quality. Then we needed to change the blanket more often.
After our evaluation of various blankets, I had come to the conclusion that SP1500 of Sumitomo was able to reduce and stabilize blanket consumption. Ever since then, I have used Sumitomo blankets.
What do you expect from a blanket?
Kinoshita: Obviously, my top priority is high-quality printing, but another important thing is to avoid printing problems caused by the blanket.
When did you start using S-PRIA?
Kinoshita: Sumitomo has continued to improve their blankets and I have been choosing them. I am using S-PRIA since June 2004.
What are your impressions of S-PRIA?
Kinoshita: More than anything else, the durability of S-PRIA has impressed me greatly. According to our data, S-PRIA allows us to take 26 hours per year to replace blankets. It is less than half of 57 hours required for other manufacturers' blankets. This has changed the way our operators think. Where they once said, "This blanket is damaged - time to change it," they now say, "We've been using this one long enough to wear out - time to change it."What do you expect from S-PRIA in the future?
Kinoshita: It is not confined to S-PRIA, but all blankets still have several areas that need to be improved such as paper release. I'd like to see further improvement in those areas. That would allow me to work with the confidence to say, "With S-PRIA, you can be sure it's a product of superior quality."
Toyo Printing http://www.toyoprint.co.jp/
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