From a small A.B. Dick one-colour to a 10-Colour Heidelberg Roll-To-Sheet Perfector, Markham’s Sina Printing has come an incredibly long way in just over a decade. For the past 12 years, Sina has been quietly establishing itself as one of the best sources for printing brokers, small printers, and photocopy store outlets, while growing at an astounding 500%.

In an industry fraught with the relentless stress of daily deadlines, demanding clients, shrinking margins, staffing issues and much, much more, it’s both refreshing and inspiring to see a printer realizing the Canadian dream through savvy determination and hard work.

About twelve years ago, in a small 1,200-sq.-ft. shop in North York, Ontario, Oscar Meshkati and his wife Fara made a quiet, humble start in the extremely competitive Canadian printing industry. The couple had emigrated to Canada about 6 months earlier, and, like so many other small printers, struggled in the beginning to make ends meet.

They began printing small-run B&W items such as flyers and NCR forms for local clients using the only printer they had—an A.B. Dick one-colour. To promote their shop, they distributed pamphlets to nearby stores and businesses. After a successful year and a half, the couple moved to a larger location and purchased another A.B. Dick—this time it was a two-colour.

Then something wonderful began to happen.

With a keen eye for quality and a strict emphasis on service and meeting deadlines, word got around. Suddenly, the Meshkatis were getting dozens of referrals, the lifeblood of any business. In just a few years, word-of-mouth, the best salesperson a printer could possibly hope to have, was keeping the presses going. Did I say presses? As business dictated, they soon bought more equipment, including a 4-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster (14” x 20”).

“Going 4-colour was definitely one of the turning points in our business during those early years,” says owner Oscar Meshkati. “We also started placing advertisements in trade magazines in addition to distributing flyers. More business came in. We weren’t the cheapest printer around at the time, but we made certain we always gave the best service, best turnaround time, and the best quality with every job. From the beginning, we’ve never compromised on those three core values—quality, service and meeting deadlines. That philosophy has remained with us to this day.”

Another turning point for Sina Printing was in 2001 when Meshkati’s son Michael, who had been involved in the company in various capacities in the past, was brought in full time. That same year the Meshkatis purchased another Heidelberg—this time a 6-colour CD 102 with a 28” x 40” sheet capacity. The larger format enabled them to bring in more profitable accounts and also gave their work more visibility. The following year they moved to their current location at 39 Riviera Drive (Unit 8) in Markham, Ontario.

“In an effort to become a one-stop shop and improve turnaround time, we also changed our pre-press set-up in 2002 and brought in a fully-automated Creo Computer-To-Plate (CTP) System,” said Michael Meshkati. “We no longer had to get film done outside. This was another big turning point. It enabled us to give faster service and we had better control over quality, which is extremely important to us. In fact, today, we have two staffers devoted almost solely to quality improvement. We’re completing the final part of the one-stop upgrade by bringing in a complete line-up of the latest bindery equipment—saddle stitchers, another polar cutter, collators, shrinkwrappers—you name it.”

The two newest Sina press acquisitions, a HP Indigo 6-colour (installed recently) and a Heidelberg 10-colour perfector roll-to-sheet, will take Sina to yet another level of sophistication.

“The Indigo will support our one-stop shopping philosophy and we’ll use it to service specific customers,” says Michael Meshkati. “The 10-colour Heidelberg perfector will enable us to serve our larger clients much faster, allow us to maintain better quality control in-house, and we can now offer our clients a more competitive price,” he added.

Sina will continue to upgrade to the newest high-tech equipment and systems, adding new equipment about every two years, but it also prides itself on the ability and experience of its staff of more than 50 to create the best quality printing solutions for any client. Today, all the equipment necessary (from pre-press to finishing and packaging) is housed under one roof. This allows Sina to accommodate client deadlines seamlessly.

The company works 24/7 and plans to re-locate to a new, larger facility in the near future. They also intend to go “greener”and are currently investigating environmentally friendlier product and system options. This, they insist, is becoming more important to a growing number of clients.

While the company handles a variety of projects, offset brochures, books, magazines and catalogues are their forte. “We’re constantly adding new technology,” says Oscar Meshkati. “This new technology will specifically help us to produce more and more books, large full-colour catalogues and glossy full-colour magazines. I consider the technology a very important part of our ongoing growth.”

Sina’s pressroom already houses some of the best presses in the industry. For example, their two incredibly fast six-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster CD102s (with tower coater) can print on virtually any medium, from Onion Skin to 40 point board, while their new Heidelberg SM-52 5-colour (plus coating tower) is ideal for smaller, quality print runs and quick turnarounds. Another plus: After a job is completed, all ink values are archived, guaranteeing consistency of colour on re-orders.

As mentioned earlier, Sina also has a top-of-the-line finishing department, using the most advanced Heidelberg equipment available. Adding to their existing B30 and B20 Stahlfolders, their new folding machine allows for complex gatefolding. While traditional saddle stitching is still available on their ST100 Heidelberg Stitcher, their bindery has recently invested in a new gluing system as well.

Finishing is professionally completed with their new die-cutting machine, as well as their new Polar cutter 115ED with its automatic jogging and cutting system.

To summarize, Sina’s current equipment now includes:

• Heidelberg Speedmaster 10-Colour Perfector Roll-to-Sheet (new)
• Heidelberg Speedmaster 6-Colour CD102-6+F plus AQ unit (28” x 40”)
• Heidelberg Speedmaster 6-Colour CD102 + AQ (28” x 40”)
• Two Heidelberg Speedmaster SM-52-P-H 4 colour (14” x 20”) with IR drier
• Heidelberg Speedmaster 5-Colour SM-52-5 + coating Unit (14” x 20”)
• HP Indigo 5000 6-colour press
• Heidelberg prepress interface
• Fully automated Creo CTP (Computer-To-Plate) system
• Two Polar Cutters 115 ED system with automatic jogging & cutting
• Heidelberg Saddle Stitcher Four-station plus cover feeder
• Three Heidelberg Stahlfolders B30 with continuous feed and B20 with pile feed
• Duplo 20-Station Collator (14” x 20”)
• Corner Stitcher
• 5 Head drill
• Two Shrinkwrappers
• Epson 10600 ‚Ä¢ Epson 10000 ‚Ä¢ Epson 9800

For more information, please visit www.sinaprinting.com or call (905) 480-8888.

For more information, please visit
www.sinaprinting.com or call (905) 480-8888.

About the Heidelberg Speedmaster 10-colour Perfector Roll-To-Sheet

You can easily complete double-sided printing in a single pass with the highest print quality using the Heidelberg Speedmaster 10-colour SM 102 (28” x 40”). The high level of automation also makes this press very cost-effective. Integration into a printshop’s digital workflow reduces make-ready times and results in fast job throughput. Other features include:

• Almost all peripheral devices are controlled using the touchscreen of the Prinect CP2000 Center via CANopen
• Sophisticated functionality and enhanced user-friendliness
• Preset Plus Feeder with central suction tape, designed for stable, precise sheet travel with sheet thicknesses up to 0.8 millimeters (0.03”).
• Transfer cylinder jacket with ink-repelling coating means faster washup and excellent print results in perfecting mode.
• Register-accurate sheet reversal and monitored sheet transfer ensure reliability during production at all speeds.
• Exchangeable impression cylinder jacket with irregular surface structure means excellent perfecting quality using even the thickest ink coatings.
• Modular blanket washup device is program-controlled via Prinect CP2000 Center and is suitable for both detergent and water applications.
• Constant print quality is ensured by stable feeding of dampening solution.
• Inking unit is equipped with optimized, quick-action ink fountains for ink consistency over long runs.
• Modular coating system means that moving into coating is extremely easy.
• Innovative air guiding foil extends the air cushion between the sheet guide path and the sheet brakes.