Australia’s leading trade printer LEP Colour Printers can now deliver even faster turnaround times for clients’ print work with the launch of the company’s brand new print facility in Melbourne on August 11.
Located in the central business hub of Port Melbourne, the new 1,561m2 facility will be fully operational by the end of August. It will effectively double LEP Colour Printers’ present production capacity and enable the company to deliver print jobs to its southern state customers in record time.
In fact, the new facility is practically a duplicate of its current Forest Glen site in Queensland. It uses the same technology, including presses, plates and inks as the Forest Glen site, to maintain LEP’s renowned high quality print services. The new premises’ print technology includes a Ryobi 925 press, an Agfa Avalon N8 platesetter, Heidelberg, G&K and Osako equipment.
Chief executive officer of LEP Colour Printers, John Bromfield, said: “We are very excited about the production potential of our new state-of-the-art facility in Port Melbourne. It is a greenfield operation, embodying our lean manufacturing methodology and practices, just as we have in our Forest Glen site, to produce consistent quality outcomes in record time.
“This site was specifically chosen because it’s in the heart of Port Melbourne, and only a stone’s throw away from couriers. That means we can deliver printed products to our customers even faster than previously. For example, Fastways can do a 5:30am pick-up for delivery the same day,” he said.
“Our main emphases for this new facility are reduced freight costs and even faster turnaround times. Another bonus is a reduced risk of goods being damaged in transit.”
General manager at LEP Colour Printers, Rob Walters, is heading the new operation, with skilled staff from LEP’s Queensland operation heading south to ensure print production schedules and standards are met immediately, and to train new employees in LEP’s lean manufacturing processes.
The siteo ffers ongoing expansion opportunities for the company well into the future. It has been designed to take full advantage of LEP’s unique lean manufacturing strategies, employed so successfully in Forest Glen, which allow LEP to print, bind, pack and despatch jobs in the shortest possible time directly to their clients’ customers, reducing transit times even further.
“This is a very important step in LEP’s strategy for growth and business development,” continued John Bromfield. “This new site will enable us to improve our services to clients in Victoria, southern New South Wales, the ACT, South and Western Australia, and Tasmania. Our clients in Queensland, northern New South Wales and the NT will continue to be handled by our Forest Glen facility.
“By effectively doubling our capabilities and being closer to our clients in southern states, LEP Colour Printers can provide better service than ever to all our clients. It is also our firm commitment to ensuring that Australian printers, and the industry at large, will prosper and grow by meeting and exceeding the expectations of all our customers in the wider business community.”