Hanshin are a packaging printing company whose niche is providing pharmaceutical and cosmetic box products, both locally and internationally. Based out of Seoul, South Korea, the company has a total of 18 employees, and turns over $6 million, as of 2024.
However, the purchase of a new RMGT 970 press with skeleton cylinder and UV LED pre-installed in March 2024 has increased sales projections for the company, with turnover expected to hit at least $10m.
In this brief interview, GEW’s International Sales Director, Marcus Greenbrook, discusses Hanshin’s GEW LED installation on their new RMGT 970 with Sang UK, Lee, Hanshin’s Chairman.
Prior to setting up Hanshin, Mr Lee was the Head of Die Cutting and the Factory Manager for a big Korean printing company. In his role as Chairman of Hanshin, he has seen the focus evolve from finishing works, such as die cutting, blanking and automatic folding and gluing, into broader printing practices; the new RMGT installation has further enhanced this evolution.
Read Marcus’ interview with Mr Lee below:
Marcus Greenbrook (MG): Hi Mr. Lee. To start us off, can you please describe your company’s activities, and your role within the company.
Sang UK, Lee (SL): I started Hanshin as a private company in May 1981. The focus was on finishing and gluing, and the bulk of the work involved a lot of manual labour.
We became a sheetfed print house in 1982 when we bought our first 2-colour Heidelberg, which ran for 12 years. In terms of LED, we purchased our first LED press, an RMGT 940 with Panasonic UV LED, in 2018 – we have further developed this capability with the new RMGT 970 press with GEW’s LeoLED.
Our broader development also saw us move into a new purpose-built factory in March 2024, meaning we took another step forward as a company.
MG: Thank you. So how long has your GEW system been installed?
SL: As part of our new factory, we also decided to install a new RMGT 970 ST -6 +CC dual with IR/Hot air. This press included three LeoLEDs in the interdeck, with 3 moveable lamps, and a further 2x LeoLED in the delivery. The reason behind this was to improve our production capability at the new factory, to ensure we could deal adequately with the higher demand we expected to be incoming.
MG: And what applications is it being used for?
SL: The press is a sheetfed offset press that is used primarily for our main business in pharmaceutical boxes. There is some cosmetic work, but pharma is the main application.
MG: What benefits has the GEW system brought to your business?
SL: As you know, we already had experience with UV LED when we purchased our first RMGT press in 2018, with the Panasonic LED lamps that were installed. In this sense, we knew what we were getting, so it wasn’t necessarily about bringing in a new technology, so much as bringing in more of a technology that we had already seen would work well for us.
Saying that, the GEW system is the much better curing over the Panasonic system on all substrates and ink sets, giving us a more efficient production facility and ensuring less waste.
With the Korean government also pushing companies to reduce CO2, installing the LED system means we are staying within regulation, which is positive for us.
MG: What can you do now, that you could not do before you had the GEW UV system?
SL: For us, it’s more about how it’s improved our ability as a company to meet customer demand. We can run the press faster, so we see quicker turnaround of jobs and productivity increases. Our Operators also have more confidence in the press and curing system, again resulting in less waste.
MG: What would you say to anyone considering purchasing a GEW system?
SL: Without a doubt I would definitely recommend installing a GEW system. The installation was smooth and the performance is excellent. You can’t ask for much more than that.
MG: And lastly, following on from that, could you describe your overall experience with the GEW team.
SL: Of course. We purchased the press and UV system through PM Trading and this is our 2nd press purchased, albeit the first with a GEW system. I first met Marcus from GEW when he was introduced by Charlie Han of PM Trading in November 2021, where we had a long discussion regarding UV LED technology, and what GEW could offer with LeoLED to help us improve our business. Following our conversations with Marcus, we then decided on the RMGT press with GEW LeoLED and ordered the press in 2023. Our experience with Marcus was excellent throughout.
In terms of the installation itself, PM Trading carried this out, with GEW visiting to commission the system in April 2024. The complete process was very professional. Overall, we are delighted to have them as a partner.
To learn more about LeoLED2, GEW’s next generation highest power UV LED curing system for the most challenging applications, go here.
