H.R.G. is based in Litomyšl, a small town in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. Formed in 1989 in the garage of a family home, the company has now developed into an award-winning offset printing house.
In our latest customer interview, GEW’s International Sales Manager for Sheetfed, Gary Doman, discusses H.R.G.’s move to UV LED curing with the company’s CEO, Leoš Tupec.
Gary Doman (GD): Leoš, thanks for taking the time to talk to us. To begin, could you describe your company’s activities?
Leoš Tupec (LT): “We’re a high-quality commercial printer of prestige catalogues, brochures, books, magazines, periodicals, annual reports and educational publications. Within the print facility we also produce packaging and point of purchase (POP).
“Everything is taken care of in-house, including graphic design, development and sampling of print products, storage, and distribution.”
GD: Thanks. We’d like to focus on your recently acquired GEW UV curing system. Could you tell me when this was installed?
LT: “The system was started up and went into full production on January 25th, 2024.”
GD: What machine was this UV LED installation on, and what is it being used for?
LT: “The installation is on our special offset printer, a Komori Lithrone GL840P H-UV; this is an eight-colour perfecting press and the first one installed in the Czech Republic.
“The press now uses LED UV light to cure printing ink, which means we are able to offer our clients excellent print quality with minimal increase in dot size, i.e. a sharper printed image.
“This technology excels on special and uncoated graphic papers, which are often natural. Printing on uncoated, high-end papers has been a trend for several years, and here at H.R.G. we specialise in working with this type of paper.
“Catalogue production can be subsequently combined with any type of book binding – from glued bindings with soft covers to sewn catalogues with hard bindings. Naturally, our customers can choose from various types of enhanced bindings, for example, laminated, hot foil stamped, blind embossed, UV coated, or die-cut.”
GD: It sounds like the LeoLED system is already proving vital to your work. To be a little more specific, could you outline the benefits the new UV system has brought to your business?
LT: “There have been several benefits when compared to the system we were using before the GEW LeoLED UV curing system was installed.
“We have seen at least a 60% reduction in electrical energy consumption, and our carbon footprint has also been very significantly reduced.
“We no longer need to change the lamphead bulbs on regular basis, which in turn is another significant cost saving.
“On the press we no longer need to wait for the lamps to warm up and cool down, which has led to an increase in our productive time… I can keep going… but the LeoLED system is just so much easier to live with.”
GD: Aside from these benefits, has the retrofit allowed you to do anything now that you could not do before you had the GEW system?
LT: “We don’t really do anything more than we did, over and above the old H-UV system, its just so much more efficient in use, and I think, for some jobs, we have seen an improvement on the ink curing. I would like to point out that GEW delivered on the promise of its LeoLED system performance, how the installation would go, and what the benefits would be to our company. I am beyond delighted.”
GD: That’s great to hear. So, what would you say to anyone considering purchasing such a system?
LT: “Just do it. GEW are an expert company that delivers on their promises. If you want to improve productivity, reduce costs, and be safe in the knowledge that you will receive a first-class solution and dedicated expert support, then look no further.”
GD: Thanks Leoš, we’re delighted with how happy you are. One final question – could you describe your overall experience with the GEW sales and installation teams?
LT: “I think I mentioned before about how very satisfied we are with the LeoLED curing system. It is beyond our expectation in terms of its performance and energy savings.
“But what really made the difference is how the whole project was managed. From the beginning, we put our trust in what we were being told it could do for us.
“And then GEW delivered on time and completed the installation in two days; we then went into full production by the third day.
“We only wish we had made the change to LeoLED earlier.”
GD: Leoš, thank you for your time.
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The UV LED curing system project at H.R.G. was managed in entirety by Arets Graphics, who are GEW’s exclusive distributor for sheetfed offset products in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Their full details are:
ARETS GRAPHICS, spol. s.r.o.
Business Park Průmyslová – Průmyslová 11,
102 00 Praha 10 – Hostivař, Česká republika.
W: www.arets.cz
Contact: Mr. Alexander Kuklovsky
E: alexander.kuklovsky@arets.cz
M: +420 602 328 929
F: +420 296 584 762
To learn more about GEW’s LeoLED Standard, our dedicated UV LED curing system for the sheetfed offset market, go here.