To move a printing press, document and tag every unit, have OEM or independent press technicians separate the mechanical, electrical, ink, air, and water systems, and secure cylinders and moving parts. Riggers then move each unit on its designed support points using jacks, skates, gantries, or forklifts, load units in reassembly order, and set them on a prepared floor or foundation where the technicians rejoin, level, and bring the press back to register.
Printing presses get moved for the same reasons any production equipment does: a plant consolidation, a bigger building, a sale to another printer. What makes them different is that a press is a line. A sheetfed offset press is a feeder, several printing units, maybe a coater and dryer, and a delivery, all tied together mechanically and electrically. A web press adds reel stands, dryers, chill stands, and a folder. Every piece has to go back at the right height and in line with the next, or the press never runs right again.
Who should be involved in a printing press move?
A press move has two kinds of work, and they belong to different people:
- Press technicians (OEM or independent) handle the machine itself: disconnecting and separating units, securing internal components, then rejoining, leveling, and bringing the press back to register.
- Riggers handle the weight: moving each unit safely out of the building, onto transport, and into position at the new site.
- Your plant team handles utilities, the production schedule, and making sure the new floor is ready.
Problems start when one party assumes another is doing a step. Write down who does what before the first bolt comes out.
What are the steps to move a printing press?
1. Survey both sites
Measure the path out of the old building and into the new one: doors, aisles, ceiling heights, floor capacity, and dock access. Check the new floor or foundation against the press manufacturer's requirements. Large presses often need specific flatness and elevation, and a floor that isn't ready can stall the whole move.
2. Document the line
Tag every unit and component, photograph connections from multiple angles, and record the layout and unit spacing. Reassembly should follow a map, not someone's memory from three weeks earlier.
3. Separate and secure
Technicians disconnect electrical, air, water, and ink systems, drain what needs draining, and separate the units. Cylinders, rollers, and moving assemblies are secured so nothing shifts during handling.
4. Rig each unit out
Printing units are heavy and often top-heavy. Riggers lift and move them only at their designed support points, using toe jacks and machinery skates, a hydraulic gantry, or heavy forklifts depending on the unit and the building. The path is protected and load-checked before anything rolls.
5. Protect and move in reassembly order
Units are wrapped or crated as needed and loaded so they arrive in the order they'll be set, so the first unit off the truck is the first one the crew needs.
6. Set for reassembly
At the new site each unit is placed in position for the technicians to join, level, and align. Only after the technicians bring the press back to register is the move really done.
Printing press move checklist
- Press make, model, serial number, and number of units confirmed
- Technician scope and dates confirmed for teardown and reassembly
- New floor or foundation checked against manufacturer requirements
- Every unit tagged and photographed before disconnection
- Rigging method chosen per unit, with the path load-checked
- Units loaded and delivered in reassembly order
- Utilities ready at the new site before units arrive
How long does it take to move a printing press?
It depends on the press size, number of units, distance, and how much reassembly work the technicians have. A small press moving across a building is a very different job from a multi-unit web press moving between states. The rigging is often the shortest part; separation, reassembly, and getting back to register take the most time. Build the schedule backward from the day the press needs to print.
What goes wrong when a press is moved badly?
- Units lifted at the wrong points, twisting frames or damaging components
- Missing tags or photos, so reassembly turns into guesswork
- A new foundation that isn't flat or at the right elevation
- Units arriving out of order and being double-handled on a crowded floor
- Loose components shifting in transit because they weren't secured
Should bindery and finishing equipment move with the press?
Usually yes. Folders, cutters, stitchers, perfect binders, and mailing lines are part of the same production flow, and moving them in the same plan avoids a new building with a press and nothing to finish the work on. Plan them as part of the full plant relocation sequence.
Bottom line
- A printing press is a line of units. Plan the move unit by unit.
- Technicians own the machine; riggers own the weight. Write down who does what.
- Check the new floor early, and deliver units in reassembly order.
Moving a press? Our printing press movers work alongside your technicians on the rigging, moving, and setting of every unit.