New Heidelberg Press Helps Las Vegas Company Build a Better Mousepad

Published: December 02, 2003, By Edited by Nsenga Byrd Thompson, Associate Editor

Heidelberg Installs First North American Speedmaster CD-74 with UV integration

Las Vegas, NV-based H&H Enterprises, one of the largest US manufacturers of mousepads, reports it will double its volume capacity and reduce its order lead-time and production costs by more than15 percent with its recent installation of the Heidelberg Speedmaster CD-74 with UV integration.

H&H will be the first North American installation of the CD-74 with UV integration, which was introduced to the market at this year’s Graph Expo/Converting Expo. The press’ wholly integrated UV functions will reportedly enable H&H Enterprises to increase its competitiveness in delivery time and price.

The company, which specializes in mousepads and countermats, used to print graphics on paper that it would then laminate. With the new CD-74 press, the company can print crisp, high quality art directly onto plastic with little drying time needed.

“We used to have three laminators running 16 hours a day,” says H&H President Ed Hamilton. “Our new Speedmaster CD-74 will totally change the way we do business and the benefits are immediate. We are turbo-charging our level of competitiveness and can now enter new markets.”

Hamilton also is looking forward to the new business opportunities the CD-74 with UV integration will offer—including the ability to expand H&H’s offerings to include short-run lenticular pieces.

H&H is no stranger to Heidelberg. The company installed its first Heidelberg, a Speedmaster 52 GTO, a decade ago when it was a small print shop in California. Now a formidable 55,000-sq-ft Las Vegas plant, H&H now relies on several pieces of Heidelberg equipment, including two Speedmaster 52 GTOs (with a two-color and a five-color with console; a five-color Speedmaster CD-74 with coater. The company also recently purchased a Heidelberg Topsetter 74.

“We looked at other UV options, but Heidelberg was the clear choice,” Hamilton said. “Having UV capabilities on a 74 platform is phenomenal, and the integration is incredibly clean. It’s a mark-free press—nothing touches the sheet.”

The Speedmaster CD 74 with UV integration is the first offset press designed with UV printing and coating in the original design specification. All UV equipment is completely integrated, which is said to allow the fastest changeover from conventional to UV chemistry as well as other features that provide unsurpassed performance, convenience, and safety.