The GE Series was announced as the successor to the HE Series of entry level presses by Ryobi at Drupa 2008. The range is now available from two to five colours, with low pile deliveries. The GE Series offers printers a significant space and price saving over equivalent Ryobi GX Series models.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council undertook a full corporate tendering process to establish the best value machine for its print operation, and the Ryobi press came out ahead of all other competing machines.

The new 522GE landscape B3-format press joins an existing Ryobi 3302 portrait format machine and an Itek 975 at Stoke-on-Trent City Council, and replaces an aging Ryobi 3985. The new machine extends the council’s business relationship with Apex, which also supplied the current computer-to-plate equipment at the council’s print department, a DPX System.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council print officer Mark Hambleton said: “We looked carefully at the market place in choosing the machine, and are pleased with the choice we have made. We are looking forward to working with the company especially with the more complex jobs we are now being asked to produce.”

“The 522GE machine offers excellent print quality and superb value for money for both in-plant and commercial printers alike,” said Neil Handforth, Sales and Marketing Director of Apex Digital Graphics. “It is an ideal first machine for a start-up company or a great upgrade path for printers looking to move from portrait to landscape production. It is also proving popular with printers wishing to upgrade their current 52cm presses, thanks to the high level of specification.”

Combining function and style in an attractive new design the Ryobi 520GE Series includes many features for reducing make-ready times. These include semi-automatic plate changing as standard, as well as automated cleaning for ink rollers and blankets, and Ink Volume Setter software for the efficient transfer of ink profile information from the pre-press department. The PCS off- press control unit incorporate Ryobi Program Inking to automatically supply ink to the ink rollers to match the image from the very start of printing.