In this short-run era, where a third of all jobs have run lengths of just 250 sheets, how are sheetfed offset presses faring? Industry observer Frank Romano offers his view.

By Frank Romano

Heidelberg’s recent decision to quit the DI business sent shock waves through the industry. That left KBA, Ryobi (through Presstek and others), and Screen as the last active direct imaging press suppliers.

As the combination of CTP and multi-color presses has become more productive, the digital color printer has also matured for on-demand, short-run color printing. This has squeezed direct imaging presses into a more limited market segment.