HEIGHTS (UK) Limited has announced the formation and opening of HEIGHTS Korea Limited, based in Seoul, South Korea.  The new company, a joint venture with its South Korean Partner Mr. Song Young Sun, is primarily focused on the remanufacture of the HEIGHTS range of printing plate processors.

This move is part of HEIGHTS commitment to the environment by recycling and remanufacturing end-of-life equipment, thereby extending its useful life and, importantly, the life of the earths precious resources.  Remanufacturing has many positive environmental ramifications and is the ultimate form of recycling.  Not only does it conserve raw material content, but also much of the value added during the processes required to manufacture new products.

This is the second remanufacturing facility to be established by HEIGHTS outside of the UK, the first being in New Jersey, USA.  HEIGHTS USA Inc. has been in the graphic arts equipment industry, and carrying out remanufacturing work, for over 20 years.  With customers including DuPont, AGFA, Pitman and Kodak, their products span both the offset and flexo markets.

Specifically in the flexo sector, HEIGHTS USA’s remanufacturing capabilities and facility allow them to work on products made by other manufacturers.  These include: ECLF’s; WaterPress and solvent based stacker plate makers; full process inliners; batch processors and ETL’s up to 3000 size; plate finishers and dryers.  HEIGHTS USA maintains the original drawings and engineering talent from legacy products made by Technigraph Inc. and Kelleigh Corporation, whilst continuing to refurbish those products that are still used today.

The process of remanufacture involves the cleaning and reuse of most of the original structure of any particular unit, whilst updating, testing and reusing key electronic components, thus eliminating dangerous products from the waste system.  This also maintains the robust integrity of the unit, which guarantees a quality product for the HEIGHTS Group, upholding the reliable reputation that is synonymous with the HEIGHTS name.  Many customers rank a HEIGHTS manufactured unit highly against its competitors, with build quality, durability and longevity considered to be the key features of their products.

Future plans for HEIGHTS USA include: fine tuning their processes to further eliminate waste and reduce cost; investigating techniques to maximize cleaning time and effectiveness; applying their procedures to other products and industries.  They were instrumental in training the HEIGHTS Korea staff and with implementation of procedures, and will continue to support them with equipment and original OEM parts.

As well as remanufacturing, the new facility in Korea will stock new machines and spare parts to support over 600 installations of HEIGHTS printing plate processing equipment in South Korea.

HEIGHTS have an active programme to establish similar centres that will facilitate the support and remanufacture of equipment in areas of the world where it has a large installation base.Gary Jones, Group Chairman of HEIGHTS, says “We are seeing both market and environmental conditions changing, and we believe that many of our products can be remanufactured to offer our customer base products of excellent quality at attractive prices”.

With over 35 years experience of offset plate processor manufacture, HEIGHTS continues to be recognised as a world-leading supplier of graphic arts products, and is dedicated to providing innovative equipment and solutions to meet the ever-changing requirements of the marketplace.

Pictured: A typical remanufactured HEIGHTS machine.