Pressing Into 2000

Though most headlines are taken up by digital imaging equipment these days, offset vendors say they are still making a great impression.

To print its heavy load of two-color, 11x17˝ work, Penn State Document Services traditionally used a 40˝ press. Director Michael Pierick, however, felt this was not the most cost-effective way to handle these jobs. To keep prices competitive, he knew he needed some new equipment. But despite the lure of digital devices, he decided to stick with offset equipment.

"There was a clear benefit to us with respect to buying an offset device," says Pierick, who bought a two-color A.B.Dick 9995 last year. That benefit, he contends, was giving his customers quality work at low costs.

Offset press manufacturers concur.

"Offset-based technology brings tremendous value to an in-plant," proclaims Scott MacKenzie, director of equipment marketing for A.B.Dick. "I don't believe it is going away as quickly as people think."

With the recent influx of new digital equipment into the market, in-plant mangers now have even more decisions to face. But for some jobs, managers like Pierick believe offset is still the only answer. The quality of digital printing has gone up, Pierick admits, "but [it's] not of the quality you can get from a medium or large offset press."

The emergence of digital equipment is actually helping the offset market, contends Mike Dighton, vice president of marketing and customer service for Hamada of America. But printers must meet that growing demand cost effectively. This is where offset equipment comes in.

"I think the digital part of the business creates more business. Our sales have increased steadily since 1993," says Dighton. "We are selling offset presses at a faster rate than we have ever sold them."

The infiltration of various digital prepress solutions has also raised offset use, he says. It has allowed shops to offer four-color work cheaper and with shorter runs.

"I think it will get even more automated, even for the less-expensive presses," Dighton speculates. "We are developing quicker ways to run the small 11x17˝ presses—there is still a huge market for that." Dighton notes that many in-plants, Penn State included, utilize both offset and digital gear to become more efficient operations.

A.B.Dick is also bringing large-press features to smaller presses, reports MacKenzie. And with features like automatic clean-up, presses are now easier to use and involve fewer steps. This will ensure offset's future, he contends.

"Offset technology is going to continue to flourish and bring great value to the in-plant market," MacKenzie stresses.

Since long runs of color documents are a big part of Penn State's workload, Pierick has no plans of saying goodbye to his presses.

"We expect it will remain a part of the equipment mix over the course of the next decade," he predicts.

What's Out There?

New from A.B.Dick is the PowerPro 34—a two-color twin tower portrait press with large press features like a stream feeder and a convertible dampener system. It can run with polyester plates, and features running register, auto crawl and auto setup to ensure faster makeready. The PowerPro 34 offers an inking system that makes it possible to use three ink form rollers in the segregated mode and four ink form rollers in the integrated mode, providing streak-free results.

Available from Akiyama Corp. of America is the J Print press. The J Print comes in 26˝, 32˝, 40˝ and 44˝ models, with a 29˝ model currently in development. The J Print press prints two sides of a sheet in one pass, reducing makeready. It maintains consistent register from the front to back of the sheet and reduces marking, scratching, offsetting and slurring.

The new Hamada H248 143⁄8x187⁄8˝ sheetfed press features landscape feeding and mechanical pull guides, running register vertically and horizontally and a choice of Hamadamatic or Crestline continuous dampener, stream or universal feeder. It's designed for four-color process jobs using metal or poly plates. Also from Hamada are the A252 two-color press and the A252P, a one-over-one convertible perfector version. Both systems feature a four form roller inking system, new Aldas continuous dampening system and refrigerated water recirculator.

The Printmaster QM 46 from Heidelberg is a 13x18˝ press. Available in one- and two-color configurations, the Printmaster is an enhanced update of the original Quickmaster 46, equipped with such features as a new ink fountain with laser slit ink blade and a steel ink fountain roller. The combination reportedly results in faster and more precise adjustment of ink flow for faster makeready and a higher quality printed product.

The Printmaster QM 46 from Heidelberg is available in one- and two-color configurations.

Komori america has announced the North American introduction of the new Lithrone Super Perfector, the Lithrone SP series. Available in 40˝ and 44˝ models, it is a dedicated perfector press offered in multi-color configurations for one-pass, two-over-two up and five-over-five up printing. The Lithrone 40/44 SP is engineered with the Komori Lithrone standard double-size transfer/impression cylinders. The design requires just 11 gripper changes from feeder to delivery on the four-color model.

The Roland 300 press from MAN Roland can print from two to eight colors on sheets of up to 23x29˝. It runs at speeds of up to 15,000 sheets per hour in straight/perfecting mode, and can be equipped with a coater and a dryer. The Roland 300 can also include the advanced PECOM press center to provide centralized control of press functions and semi-automatic plate loading for nonstop operation.

Mitsubishi Lithographic Presses has introduced a 37x51˝ large-format press. This press offers new features and an increase in speed to 15,000 iph. Improvements include additional sheet control at the feeder to accept the wider stock range at increased speeds, as well as improvements in the delivery to accept the higher speed. Mitsubishi has devised a Transfer Cylinder arrangement that insures mark-free printing on heavy stock, as well as stable transfer of lighter paper.

New from Sakurai is the OLIVER-EDII line, designed to accept digital and CTP interface systems. This line offers Sakurai Automatic Plate Changing, Sakurai Auto Set, automatic blanket washup and automatic ink roller washup. Other standard features include Sakurai Color Console with CTP interface, suction-belt feeder and platform feeder/delivery.

Swaneck Graphics, distributor of the Toko/ProPrint Offset press line of products, has announced the availability of two new models. The ProPrint 4750 and 4750R are 13x17˝ models that feature three form rollers, a spray unit and an Invertor motor. Both units have the Townsend T-51 AE option head and infra-red dryer options available.

by CHRIS BAUER