All production for own-use is printed on uncoated 60 gsm media. The device has completely replaced two colour high-end laser presses and is also partially taking over production from mono high-end laser presses.
Background
Orifarm Group is a dynamic international entity operating in the healthcare sector. Every day, it works to ensure that high-quality medicinal products are available to as many consumers as possible at affordable prices. It provides a wide range of high-quality medicinal products for various therapeutic areas and disease stages throughout the patient’s treatment process – spanning from prevention and relief, to treatment, and the subsequent monitoring of patients. In the Czech Republic, Orifarm opened its branch in 2007 and today counts 800 employees.
The Challenge
The launch of the production of small batches of medicinal products has created a need for printing patient information leaflets in formats ranging from A5 to SRA3. Initially, the vast majority of leaflets were printed in black-and-white and only a small number were in colour.
Over the years, the production of medicinal products has multiplied and, at the same time, the proportion of pages printed in colour (compared to the total number of leaflets printed) has increased. Colour laser printing technology was no longer sufficient for the required quantities, mainly because of frequent 60 gsm paper jams.
There were occasions when not all orders could be printed on time therefore it was necessary to allocate an additional employee shift. The main objectives when choosing a new device were to reduce printing costs, increase printing efficiency, and reduce downtime caused by paper jams in the device.
The Solution
The specific requirement of printing on 60 gsm uncoated paper - and the complications with printing on laser printing machines - led to an interest in testing new inkjet printing technology.
In terms of capacity and required quality, the Kyocera TASKalfa Pro 15000c sheet-fed inkjet press was ultimately the best fit. The next solution was integration of the printing solution into a custom-developed production workflow, through which all the patient information leaflets are printed.
Compatibility with this system was ensured by the Fiery print server supplied with the device in its standard configuration.
The Impact
The Kyocera TASKalfa Pro 15000c inkjet press has been in operation at Orifarm’s print center for 3 years.
It has gradually, and now completely, replaced two colour laser presses and is also commonly used for black and-white printing. Among the most appreciated features of the delivered solution are reliability, colour consistency, ease of operation, and –another valuable benefit – lower operating costs.
Although it is a colour press, it will also print efficiently in black-and-white mode. There are also significantly-fewer service interventions compared to the original printing technology; this has had a positive impact on the uptime of production and the entire production can now be reliably-printed in one shift.
