After a record sales year in 2023, Courier Graphics, a family-owned commercial printing company in Phoenix, AZ, is further accelerating its growth with the addition of a new Speedmaster XL 106 from HEIDELBERG.
Installed in mid-2024, the XL 106 has enabled Courier Graphics to tap into new markets for short-run booklets while significantly boosting efficiency in long-run catalog cover production.
Making Us a Better Company
Courier Graphics, who specializes in “anything with a page count,” has spent the past fifty years building a strong reputation in the Southwest for delivering high-quality product catalogs, magazines, brochures, booklets, and instruction manuals with remarkably fast turnaround times.
To strengthen its leadership in speed and efficiency while boosting its short-run booklet and brochure capabilities, Courier Graphics recently added a new Speedmaster XL 106-8P+L from HEIDELBERG.
The state-of-the-art XL 106 perfecting press is equipped with HEIDELBERG’s most sophisticated technology including UV curing, Push to Stop, AutoPlate Pro, Prinect Inpress Control 3, and the HEIDELBERG UX, which includes AI-powered press assistance systems.
With advanced automation and industry-leading speed, the XL 106 efficiently prints long runs of covers for the company’s perfect-bound and saddle-stitched catalogs – impressively keeping pace with its web press used to produce catalog contents.
Additionally, the XL 106’s versatile technology offers the flexibility to produce short-run materials like 96+ page booklets with quantities as small as 200-500.“The press has opened up a lot of new doors for us that historically didn’t align with our production model,” said Scott Carritt, President of Courier Graphics.
Thanks to Prinect Inpress Control, HEIDELBERG’s cutting-edge inline spectrophotometer, which measures and adjusts color and register on the fly at any speed, Courier Graphics has reduced makeready times by over 75% compared to its previous offset press from a competing manufacturer.
This significant reduction in set-up time has enabled faster turnaround and improved quality. Carritt added, “The XL 106 is making us a better company. We’re willing to take on bigger risks and bigger challenges – knowing that the equipment isn’t going to hold us back or throttle us in any way.”
Another standout feature driving Courier Graphics’ enhanced efficiency is the XL 106’s “robust and sophisticated” feeder engineering – a significant factor that initially influenced Carritt’s decision to invest in the press.
Offering fully automatic preset adjustments for all key formats and air settings, the XL 106’s feeder ensures smooth, consistent sheet travel throughout the entire printing process and allows the company’s operators to continuously run the press at top speeds, for any stock, regardless of weight.
“Compared to presses we’ve had in the past, the XL 106 is much faster and much more consistent,” said Carritt. “We can run lightweight stocks, heavy stocks, no problem. The press is incredibly reliable with very little downtime. It’s truly a dream come true.”
Alongside its advanced technology, top-tier training has been instrumental in enabling Courier Graphics to succeed with the XL 106. Carritt emphasized that HEIDELBERG’s level of training is unmatched in the industry.
“HEIDELBERG’s approach to training truly simplifies operations for printers, especially as we navigate both new technologies and a demanding labor market,” he said. “The comprehensive offerings enable my team to continually hone their skills as they learn to optimize the performance of these robust machines.”
The Partnership Beyond the Machines
Courier Graphics’ efficient print production is supported by two highly productive POLAR cutting systems and three newly installed Stahlfolders: the TH 66, TH 82, and KH 82. Installed shortly after the XL 106, the Stahlfolders have quickly become workhorses in the company’s finishing department.
“These machines are bulletproof,” said Carritt. “They just keep running and running at incredible speeds with minimal downtime.” In fact, less than nine months after installation, the Stahlfolders proved so effective that the company achieved a return on investment.
Despite the outstanding performance of all of its machines, Carritt said HEIDELBERG’s true success lies in the partnerships it forms with its customers. “I think all of the major companies have great presses – they all put ink on paper at high speeds – but when something goes wrong or you need someone to call, HEIDELBERG always answers.
That is where they differentiate themselves from everyone else. The partnership we’ve built with them is almost more important than the printing press itself,” he concluded.