Half-size The Ideal Press?

With demand rising for quick-turnaround, short-run color, in-plants are looking to half-size presses to give them the versatility and shorter makereadies they need.

By Carol Brzozowski

For Rodney Brown, a half-size press is, in many ways, the perfect size press for his in-plant.

"There's very few jobs that we can't do for the university on this press," says Brown, manager of University of Delaware's Graphic Communications Center. His shop's 20x28˝ Komori is compact enough to fit in his facility, and it allows the in-plant to stay competitive, since materials cost less than they would on a 40˝ press. Plus, the quality it produces is top notch. In fact, this press printed the calendar that won Best of Show for Brown and his crew in In-Print 2004.

Half-size presses are gaining popularity all over the industry for their versatility and cost savings. But what defines a half-size press depends on the company manufacturing it.

Carsten Ruebel, product manager at Heidelberg, defines a half-size press as four-up, four pages on the side.

Tim Kirby, national sales manager at xpedx Printing Technologies, distributor of Ryobi presses, says the company's definition of a half-size press is not only the four-up, 20x28˝ sheet size, but also the six-up 23x29˝, "which some people categorize as a three-quarter size press," he says, adding that this press is the company's primary marketing thrust.

"It will allow a printer to be more competitive for typical 8-1⁄2x11˝ and 11x17˝ jobs," says Kirby.

At MAN Roland, Doug Still, North America marketing manager, agrees the definition for half-size has broadened over the years to include six-up.

"It's an important development, because a six-up press gives you 50 percent more product on every sheet without costing extra in terms of production time," he says.

Meanwhile, half-size presses are Sakurai's sole focus. Of its three offerings, the one most favored by the in-plant market is the Sakurai Model 458, an 18-1⁄8x22-3⁄4˝ press, says Don Bence, vice president.

"It won't handle full bleeds, but for a lot of work, it is a four-up press," he explains.

The company also manufactures a 19x26˝ press which Bence terms "more of a true half-size" and a slightly larger model, a 23x30˝ press which Bence says attracts interest among those whose work isn't appropriate for a half-size press.

Hamada is one press manufacturer that does not make a half-size press—but it gets pretty close.

"There are a lot of players in the half-size market and only a limited number in the 20˝ market," says Mike Dighton, Hamada's vice-president of marketing and customer service. "We are concentrating on our core customers, who have always been the shops with 15 to 20 employees or fewer."

To that end, Hamada offers a 20˝ press, with a 14x20˝ being the largest.

"It's considered a quarter-sized press when you are talking full size as 40˝, half-size as 28˝ or 26˝ and quarter size usually 4x20˝," he says. "Ours is a fast turn-around, quick makeready, short run, very accurate printing four-color press with all of the big press features, but it's one-third the price of the average half-size press."

Ideal for Short-run Color Jobs

The move toward fast-turnaround, short-run color has made half-size presses increasingly popular, notes Still, of MAN Roland.

"As long as marketers continue to target smaller audience segments, short-run color will be a big seller for printers," he says. "Half-size equipment lets them capitalize on the trend."

"For a lot of work [in-plants] do, it really fits their bindery operation perfectly," points out Bence, of Sakurai. "If they get to the point when volume starts to get away from them on the 14x20˝ sized press, the next size up is almost the same and really not a lot more money, and it truly does give them twice the capacity on a lot of work," he says.

Still points out that the more in-plant operations can print in-house, the more valuable they are to the parent company.

"A six-up machine lets them do it all," he says, adding one of MAN Roland's offerings—sized for short runs and high volume—allows in-plants to print on corrugated cartons, credit cards and plastic substrates.

Another advantage to half-size presses is that they often carry the same automation found on 40˝ presses, such as:

• MAN Roland's Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM), which allows printers to makeready the press for the next job while the current project is printing

• Heidelberg's AutoPlate push-button operation

• Sakurai's automated plate hangers and blanket washers, as well as its console-controlled menus enabling one-person press operation

On Long Runs, Digital Can't Cut It

While the type of work produced on a half-size press can be done on a digital color printer, manufacturers cite costs, speed and quality as reasons why printing on a half-size press offers more advantages.

Digital color printers are not cost-effective once a job reaches the 250 sheet range, Still contends.

Heidelberg's Ruebel agrees: "If you compare the costs for the inks and the toner on a digital color printer, the toner is very expensive."

Speed is another consideration, he says.

"Our presses run at a speed of 13,000 or 15,000 sheets per hour, printing on both sides," Ruebel says. "That's something you can't do on a digital machine."

He further adds there are quality limitations: "Digital machines come pretty close to the offset quality, but not exactly the same."

One-, Two-color Presses Fading

Press manufacturers say four-color presses now outsell one- or two-color presses.

Heidelberg rarely sells them.

"The majority of the machines are five or six colors with a coater," says Ruebel. "The customer can add a special color—a house color, for example—and increase the value of his printed product."

With coating, operators can add additional features to give a glossy look and coated sheets result in less drying time, Ruebel says.

"The quality is sealed and there is faster turnaround to the next production set on the press," he says.

Kirby notes xpedx rarely sells one-color Ryobi presses and not nearly as many two-colors as in the mid-1990s.

Sakurai only sold one two-color press last year, Bence notes, adding the company only builds them now at special request.

"Because you can get four-color off your desktop printer, the world expects four colors," says Bence. "You can buy color printing on the Internet for less than you paid for a one-color job a few years ago."

Coating, UV Inks in Demand

Like others, Kirby notes a growing interest in UV, hybrid inks, and coatings among printers who want a leg up in the market.

"To be profitable both in the commercial market and the in-plant market, printers need to do things other printers can't," he says. "Quality demands are going up. Part of quality includes aqueous coating, UV coating, spot coating and special effects. The fewer people who do that, the more they can demand for their products and services."

MAN Roland's Still agrees.

"The high gloss of UV coatings and the vivid color of UV inks help in-plants stand out in the eyes of their top management and internal clients as well," he says.

Bence cautions printers investing in UV to make sure there's an application to justify the cost of the power requirements with UV inks.

In previous years, UV was tricky to handle and inks were expensive, Ruebel says. But now, competition has driven prices down. Also in previous years, UV was an after-market feature whereas today, presses are directly prepared for UV equipment, he says.

An advantage of UV inks is the ability to print and add special effects on any substrate, Ruebel says.

"In times when the economy was down, it was pretty hostile for printers and they tried to gain business with special effects. They wanted to leave the mainstream and create their own niche, which led to this trend towards UV," he says.

There is an increasing interest in aqueous coating, favored for its shortened drying time and value-added factors.

"Aqueous coating is a must-have," Still says. "Not only does it add to the attractiveness of the piece, it imparts durability and helps seal the ink, eliminating drying time."

Bence says in Sakurai's 19x26˝ and larger models, nearly half are ending up with a coating requirement and nearly every 23x30˝ is as well.

"That is bucking up against the 40˝ market size," Bence says.

As for five- and six-color presses, xpedx's Kirby notes they are more popular for PMS colors and metallics, as well as the special effects that can be done with a varnishing in the fifth unit. Also popular is the ability to do a coating such as gloss-on-gloss, matte-on-gloss or tone-on-tone effect.

Disagreement Over Perfecting

When it comes to perfecting, Kirby notes that while some printers need to perfect, they give up print quality due to such factors as extra gripper changes.

"Most conscientious manufacturers will steer printers away from a perfector," he says.

Still disagrees, saying printers are more interested in perfecting now than five years ago; as a result, perfecting is standard equipment on the company's six-up ROLAND 300.

"The one-pass productivity perfecting provides can make the difference between efficiently producing a job or having a nightmare on your hands," he says.

In other half-size trends, the presses are making a greater foray into the packaging market.

That's especially the case with the three-quarter press—the 24x29˝ sheet size—Heidelberg's Ruebel says.

"With packaging—especially labels—you have to use very thin paper," he says, "so it is beneficial to have a smaller sheet size because it is easier to handle."

Kirby says many manufacturers are seeing the 23x29˝ sheet size becoming more "in vogue" for the productivity the press offers.

The press' automation offers printers the ability to compete not only for short-run work, but its six-up format and high speeds pave the way for long-run competition, as well.

"A lot of people feel the half-size press will do all jobs common to the U.S. printing market, including six-panel brochures, presentation folders, four-up and now six-up posters and publications," Kirby says. "Many printers feel this is the ideal size—they can get one press that can do everything without having to invest in a 40-inch."