Who has the best bang for the buck in autos?

[GraphicDisorder]

We got a ton of them when we bought ours, haven't bought any new ones, reuse them all the time.  Had our press 10 months now.

Have to say, one should be verrrry careful re-using the sheets. It's no problem if you take care when removing the sheet from the pin bars over and over. If you rush, you can tweak out the punched holes - sometimes in a way that is not immediately noticeable until you go to press. (in which case the whole point of the system is defeated....)

I've roached many sheets by yanking a freshly exposed screen out of the master frame and not realizing the film was stuck to the stencil. Twisted the carrier sheet into a warped mess.

No doubt about it, we have done the same for ones we jacked up.  You can avoid it most often though. 

[alan802]

Why are you even talking about how long it takes to register a one color job on a auto? One color jobs are not registered.

I replied to squeegee's comment about "setting up" a one color, not really registering. 

In regards to a press jig, here's my thought on time; one color job let's say since someone else brought it up previously.  On the MHM, you load the screen and you're ready to print.  If you have a pallet jig, you first remove a pallet, get the jig and fasten it, then move it to the head, table up, lock the screen.  Then you have to take off the jig and put the pallet back on.  Then you are ready to print.  What happens when a you have a bad screen?  MHM--take it out put another in place, print.  With a jig, in addition to the screen change, you take a pallet off again, put the jig on, move jig to head, table up, lock, remove jig, replace pallet.  In my mind the jig process takes at least a minute or 2, not merely seconds every time you use it.  Multipy that times thousands of changeovers in the lifespan of a machine, then you're talking real time.

[blue moon]

Press choice is very personal. It also has a lot to do with the business it is going into. I am pretty certain that no matter which press you get you will be really happy with it and you will also find some minor faults.

One of the things that makes MHM different is that they really are designing for the larger more business savvy shops. Big thing about their presses is that they are very simple to set up and operate. The goals is to have a press operator (unskilled labor) and have them run the press. I guess the best explanation would be like the Mac and Windows. It is just more intuitive and easier to train somebody to run it.

The support is fine. It does not come even close to M&R (the only other company I had to call for help), but it does work fine. There are several techs and if you were really down, I am sure they would get one out on site rather quickly. Just like most other MHM users, I can't say I've had many problems that were not caused by us or that could not be fixed by rebooting. Actually I had only one (in 2.5 years), a sensor failed and the replacement was in the next morning. If we were not skilled enough to replace it, any local electrician could have done it without effecting any calibration.

As Tony keeps repeating, all the presses will make you similar amounts of money if they are operated properly. Some will do a little better and they do tend to cost a little more upfront.

pierre

[alan802]

Alan, not to get in a big thing about whats going on with RPM and horse but do you know the differences between the 2 presses? I know they are manufactured by the same company.

One is blue and the other is tan.  Just kidding, the only real difference IN THE MACHINE is in how the print stroke is adjusted.  One is done digitally using an encoder inside the AC motor and the other uses proxy sensors and a flag to adjust stroke.  There are things in the works that could mean more changes between the two but that's all in the future and who know how all that will pan out.

We all know the other difference is in who you technically buy it from, Rick or Robby.

[Prosperi-Tees]

I dont know for sure but the digital one seems like it would be easier to use. Do you know if the prices are pretty much the same?

[blue moon]

Alan, not to get in a big thing about whats going on with RPM and horse but do you know the differences between the 2 presses? I know they are manufactured by the same company.

One is blue and the other is tan.  Just kidding, the only real difference IN THE MACHINE is in how the print stroke is adjusted.  One is done digitally using an encoder inside the AC motor and the other uses proxy sensors and a flag to adjust stroke.  There are things in the works that could mean more changes between the two but that's all in the future and who know how all that will pan out.

We all know the other difference is in who you technically buy it from, Rick or Robby.

I would love to see another person similar to Alan get an RPM so we can get more info! I think it would be a smart move for Rick to discount one heavily (to the right person) and get the ppl talking about it more.

pierre

[Prosperi-Tees]

Yes that could be great for Rick because from what I see it could be the best mid range press out there and for 50Kish for an 8 color may be a bargain for all the digital controls making it easier to adjust is awesome. Now if it had individual head off contact. What press sports that if any?

[ebscreen]

I think the sensor/flag would actually be easier to use. You can visually see what you're doing.
Digital would win on longevity though, prox. sensors are a wear part. And some of them ain't cheap.

[GraphicDisorder]

Alan, not to get in a big thing about whats going on with RPM and horse but do you know the differences between the 2 presses? I know they are manufactured by the same company.

We all know the other difference is in who you technically buy it from, Rick or Robby.

How about Ricky Bobby?

[Printficient]

Yes that could be great for Rick because from what I see it could be the best mid range press out there and for 50Kish for an 8 color may be a bargain for all the digital controls making it easier to adjust is awesome. Now if it had individual head off contact. What press sports that if any?

An E Type 8 color is in this price range.

[Prosperi-Tees]

Alan, not to get in a big thing about whats going on with RPM and horse but do you know the differences between the 2 presses? I know they are manufactured by the same company.

One is blue and the other is tan.  Just kidding, the only real difference IN THE MACHINE is in how the print stroke is adjusted.  One is done digitally using an encoder inside the AC motor and the other uses proxy sensors and a flag to adjust stroke.  There are things in the works that could mean more changes between the two but that's all in the future and who know how all that will pan out.

We all know the other difference is in who you technically buy it from, Rick or Robby.

I would love to see another person similar to Alan get an RPM so we can get more info! I think it would be a smart move for Rick to discount one heavily (to the right person) and get the ppl talking about it more.

pierre

I think Ricky or Robby should put some heavy discounts out there to get people buzzing about these presses. I would take one if I was in the position to.

[alan802]

I would love to see another person similar to Alan get an RPM so we can get more info! I think it would be a smart move for Rick to discount one heavily (to the right person) and get the ppl talking about it more.

pierre

There are only a few guys out there who are on the boards who have them, but the guys I know are not active, they mostly lurk.  I talk regularly with a couple other shops who run them and they all love them, but they don't share the same passion that I have for this business or especially the machines.  I could talk autos all damn day and I could go into shops and watch how other people operate them every day of the week if I could.  My favorite thing to do right now is go visit other shops and watch them work.  You'd be surprised at how many of the mid sized and larger shops don't really know what the hell they are doing.  It's very satisfying to know how much more efficient shops like ours and other members here on this board are compared to those shops who don't take advantage of the discussion forums. 

It would be nice to get more people than just me talking about them.  Not meaning to brag but I don't think anybody who runs or owns an RPM knows more about it than I do, but having more people discussing them besides me would be great for the press.  I can tell you guys how reliable our press is and has been till I'm blue in the face, but after all, it's only one sample so I could just be very lucky to not have had any problems with our press in 2.5 years and 500K impressions.  I know I rave about it so much and people probably get tired of hearing it from just one person, but I promise you guys that I know what I'm talking about when it comes to autos, more than from just a printer's viewpoint.  I'm still researching them to this day so when the time comes for number 2, I'll be ready to make the best decision.

When the time comes, hopefully we'll be financially in a position where a challenger III or mhm S type will be doable, but it's going to be hard to find something better than the press we currently run when price is a factor.  I think if price weren't an issue, and we were doing $1,000,000 a year with one auto, then a challenger III will be my choice.  I don't think I'd spend all the extra money for a 14 or more color machine when we'd rarely need anything of that size or flash capacity and stick with a 12 color. 

[Prosperi-Tees]

Hey Brandt, what manufacturers did you entertain before settling in on M&R?

Pierre, same question just replace with MHM?

Alan, same question just replace with RPM?

lol 

[alan802]

Yes that could be great for Rick because from what I see it could be the best mid range press out there and for 50Kish for an 8 color may be a bargain for all the digital controls making it easier to adjust is awesome. Now if it had individual head off contact. What press sports that if any?

The MHM's have individual OC on the printheads as an option, as do the Anatol's.  The challenger III also has them.  I've been thinking of trying to fabricate something that would fit on our press.  It's something that would be easy to do on our RPM because of the way it's designed, a simple plug in part.

[alan802]

Hey Brandt, what manufacturers did you entertain before settling in on M&R?

Pierre, same question just replace with MHM?

Alan, same question just replace with RPM?

lol 

I looked heavily at the sportsman e, gauntlet II,  and the anatol stratus II.  Those two along with the RPM made my final 3 with the MHM just squeezed out due to some personal issues I had with the company selling them, not because of the auto so much as the one's who would be setting it up and servicing it.

I looked at every mid level option out there at the time, including the progressive falcon, awt's print-tex II, american m&m's X-Press, I think the TUF Olympian was still being made, and I looked briefly at the TAS Hawk or was it something else...I can't remember.