Retrofit MittMedia Print – Falun, Sweden
MittMedia Print is a major player in the Swedish printing business. With headquarters in the city of Gävle, the company has a further six printing houses in the mid and northern parts of Sweden. In total, there are well over 100 magazines and papers in the client portfolio.
THE NEED
In Falun, where one of MittMedia Print’s printing houses is located, there was a strong need for upgrading of the whole printing process. There were simply too many production stoppages to keep customers happy. Something had to be done to turn the situation around. There was also a wish to become a truly competitive alternative for new customers.
In order to achieve this, there would have to be improvements in the printing process in general. There would also have to be higher quality and efficiency in the coloring and cutting processes in particular. The plan was to go for a retrofit solution as a way of extending the life cycle of existing machines. MittMedia Print contacted DCOS, since earlier collaborations between the two companies had proved successful.
THE ANALYSIS
Retrofit is a service provided by DCOS. We met with MittMedia Print to discuss the different possibilities. What was at first thought of as a limited project concerning an inking system with preset capability, soon developed into a full retrofit.
– Discussing the options back and forth, DCOS soon stood out as the obvious choice for us. We hadn’t realized they could actually take responsibility for the whole retrofit project. When we found out they could, it was really not a difficult decision to take, says Måns Nyberg, local branch manager at MittMedia Print in Falun.
MittMedia Print’s position was clear: There could be no interference with the uptime. All ongoing assignments would have to continue as usual.
This was of course a true challenge. We pursued an analysis of MittMedia Print’s processes, all in close collaboration with manager Måns Nyberg. Mr. Nyberg was a key person all through the project. Together, we came to the conclusion that MittMedia Print would benefit from having a new drive and control system, new and considerably fewer control desks, a new inking system with preset capabilities, and a closed loop register system.
THE SOLUTION
The existing situation at MittMedia Print was not uncommon. There was a functioning system for production of magazines and papers. This system, though, had been developed in several different steps over the years. A reasonable objective of the retrofit would be to create a unified solution, thus losing the heterogeneity of the existing system. This was agreed upon.
IMPLEMENTATION
The purpose of the retrofit would be enabling a greater degree of flexibility and last but not least to seriously decrease the amount of waste copies. With careful planning, this concept could be carried out without interrupting the daily work at MittMedia Print.
The project team from DCOS arrived at the printing house to implement the solution. This called for meticulous precision, and there could be no mistakes. That would have caused interruptions in the ongoing assignments, and would prove expensive. Together with Måns Nyberg, we managed to finish the complex procedures according to plan. The overall implementation took 5 months to get up and running and was carried out in 2010.
THE RESULT
After successfully having taken the Falun printing house through the retrofit process, there is a considerably higher efficiency at MittMedia Print. There are indeed much less waste copies. There is also a greater flexibility, making MittMedia Print in Falun an even more attractive choice for its existing and potential clients.
Måns Nyberg, local branch manager at the printing house, comments:
– Working with DCOS was excellent. I was involved all through the process, thus being in the middle of it all the time. It took some careful planning, and we are very pleased with the results of the retrofit.
