Who is Howard Graphic Equipment Ltd?
HGE has been in the business since 1967. The company was formed when H.W. (Bill) Howard bought a used Webendorfer and took up residence in a 250-square foot section of a friend’s machine shop. Prior to forming the company, Bill worked as a pressman in his native England before emigrating to Canada in 1947. It was in Canada that Bill continued his involvement in the industry selling a variety of new machinery, including Heidelberg, Wohlenberg and Miehle Roland. Many moves later and with the addition of other family members, HGE now carries on business in a new specially designed 68,000-square foot facility in Mississauga.
The word “RECONDITIONED” is used widely throughout industry. What does it mean to me - the customer?
During the past 38 years, we have had first hand experience with the word “reconditioned”. Essentially, it can mean many things most of which give a misleading suggestion of making a product better. This is also true of such words as “rebuilt” and “overhauled”. HGE believes that we don’t need fancy catchwords to suggest reconditioning, rather we have developed a program that allows for machines to be brought up to normal printing standards. We do this with a series of protocols. They are:
- Machinery Checklist
- Master Job Checklist
- Post Assembly Checklist
- Print Test Checklist
- Shipping Checklist
A total of 809 items
Using the strict guidelines based on the HQS Quality System, HGE ensures that machines leaving our plant have been brought up to proper standards especially in the following areas:
| - cylinder |
- bearings |
- grippers |
- infeed |
| - thrust bearings |
- pads |
- delivery |
- cams & followers |
| - feeder |
- ink units |
- water units |
|
The HQS Quality System is a result of many years of refinement and leaves little doubt as to the outcome. Anyone can make up a simple checklist, but we have gone further in order to make our work meaningful. We also invest over 1000 man hours in each 6 color 40"we take on. This labor element allows us to check, replace, reset or repair components and, in so doing, print test each machine to ensure that we have, indeed, got it right. After the machine is delivered, we then have the possibility to scrutinize our performance and continue “refining” the HQS protocol in order to enhance its value.
