About Remata
Remata Print & Communication began business in Midrand, South Africa, in 1970. The company has a long history of innovation in the world of commercial printing, and introduced the first Desktop Publishing Bureau in the country back in 1987. Its business has evolved steadily and Remata is now a one-stop-shop for complete print, packaging and communication solutions, encompassing digital and litho printing, variable data printing, point-of-sale, e-mail campaigns, secure print portals to store and manage all print collateral for clients, and many other cross-channel marketing activities. With around 80 employees and almost 3,000 active customers, the business is well set for the future.
Keeping ahead of technology
However, maintaining investment in the latest technologies has long been an absolute necessity for commercial printers; standing still is not an option. Remata is no exception, the business has had to continually evolve its technology in order to maintain a competitive edge in the market. Esme Bense, Director at Remata, recounts some of their more notable acquisitions: “In 1996 we introduced an Agfa Chromapress, the first in South Africa, closely followed by a Heidelberg Quickmaster DI 46 and then a Speedmaster 74 DI. A much-loved Indigo press was then added, allowing for Pantone matching and high quality short runs. These presses opened up the variable data and personalisation markets for Remata, and whilst they have been a strong compliment to the litho side of the business, litho remains irreplaceable.”
Bense continues: “At Remata we strive to be a constant market disruptor. We’ve added a 5-colour Heidelberg CD press to enable more packaging and high speed litho, and we were the first in our country to install the latest Komori H-UV litho press to offer the benefits of H-UV drip-off technology to clients.”
Why the need for LED?
Despite this, Bense freely admits that not all the company’s technological advancements have gone entirely to plan. In particular, the H-UV curing system on the Komori GL 537+C became especially problematic, as she explains: “The H-UV system was installed on our Komori press when we purchased it, but the fragile nature, limited lifespan and cost of the bulbs was an absolute pain point for us. The amount of time it took to change bulbs, combined with the lengthy warm-up and cool-down periods, was a real hindrance to production. Curing on certain colours was also a huge problem for us when H-UV should come off dry. It was extremely problematic on certain jobs.
“In fact, the drama we were having with the H-UV system played such a role in our outlook on our press that we were even prepared to sell the entire machine. At that point, we investigated converting to conventional UV and then we heard about UV LED technology, and our research revealed that this would be the best option for us.
“We discovered so many advantages to this latest technology… very low energy consumption, instant on-off switching and zero warm-up or cool-down for all-round faster production and guaranteed instant curing. Added to this, LED means minimal maintenance, and no more bulb changing or working with fragile bulbs that can break so easily.”
Why GEW?
Having decided UV LED was the way forward for Remata, Bense searched the market to find the right supplier, as she explains: “I asked for recommendations from the Komori Freaks group on Facebook, and a respected peer in the US came back and advised me to talk to GEW. We did also look at other suppliers, but we eventually opted for GEW because they were totally engaged from the outset and the presence of local technical support, through their regional distributor SArepco, was a major factor in our final decision.”
Installation
SArepco technicians retrofitted the two-lamp UV LED curing system in October 2024. The installation process was carefully pre-planned to minimise press downtime, as Bense observes: “The site inspections and checks were all easy and well thought through. All the equipment that arrived was pre-tested at GEW and inspected again on its arrival here, to ensure a seamless installation. The system was then commissioned after rigorous checks performed remotely by GEW in the UK, via the internet.”
System spec
A two-lamp ‘LeoLED’ system was specified by GEW’s design engineering team, to ensure that Remata’s production capability is future-proofed and there is ample power to handle even the most demanding jobs. To date, the production team have rarely needed to use the second lamp, but Bense prefers to know that they are ready for all eventualities: “We mostly only use one lamp head, and engage the second one on the more demanding, solid ink jobs. The head is so effective that we usually only run it at 60% power, so we also have plenty of room to go higher on the lamp intensity, if needs be.”
Realising the benefits
Whilst Bense chose LED curing for its more obvious benefits, there were also some unexpected advantages that the production team discovered after beginning to use it: “We have also found that we now use less ink and we achieve brighter, richer colours as the ink doesn’t penetrate deep into the paper fibres like conventional ink does, it lies more on the top of the sheet. This is particularly evident on uncoated stock and our customers have really noticed the difference.”
The introduction of LED curing has also enabled Remata to improve upon two aspects of the business that customers care about most of all… time and money. Bense comments on this: “Our clients are most interested in better timing and cost saving on jobs. With our GEW system we have reduced machine downtime and significantly shortened our make-ready times, which in turn has meant we can reduce chargeable time to give the client the benefit of better pricing and turnaround. It’s a win-win situation.”
Return on Investment
Bense is conservative when estimating the return on investment period for the UV LED upgrade: “We expect to see RoI within four to five years. In the meantime, the new LED system is performing way beyond our original expectations…. we can now focus on printing and producing the quality expected, and not spend our time worrying about parts of the press we shouldn’t have to. The energy saving has been fantastic and if we had moved to LED just for that one aspect alone, it would have been worth it.”
Conclusion
Bense concludes with a philosophical outlook: “I wish with all my heart that this LED system was in the press when we ordered it and it was installed. Just this alone would have saved us hundreds of thousands…. not to mention the stress it would have avoided. To anyone thinking of installing LED, I would say just do it! We all need to save on electricity and the no-nonsense design means you don’t have to worry about it for years to come.”
For further information on GEW’s next generation, highest power UV LED curing system, LeoLED2, visit www.gewuv.com/leoled2
For more about Remata, visit https://remata.co.za/
For further information on SArepco, visit https://www.sarepco.co.za/