Offset Printing - Sheet-Fed

Last week, press manufacturer MAN Roland (now rebranded as “manroland”) held a rededication ceremony at its Westmont, Ill., headquarters. The event, attended by local dignitaries, marked the U.S. unveiling of its new logo and branding. On hand at the ceremony were Kirk W. Dillard, Illinois State Senator; Patricia R. Bellock, Illinois State Representative; and Polly Jensen, President and CEO of the Printing Industry of Illinois Association. Each made brief statements, as did manroland CEO Vince Lapinski. After the company’s new logo was unveiled at the intersection of Pasquinelli Drive and East Oak Hill Drive, attendees took a brief tour of the facility,

MANY INDUSTRY pundits were quick to label Drupa 2008 “The Digital Ink-jet Drupa,” given the technology previews shown by Kodak, HP, Océ, Screen and Fujifilm. Nonetheless, traditional sheetfed and web offset press manufacturers were just as diligent in showcasing their visions of the future. The massive German trade show could just as easily have been called “The Large-format Press Drupa”; or “The Short-run, Fast Makeready Offset Press Drupa”; or even “The Value-added Press Drupa.” These themes were very apparent from Heidelberg, which filled two entire halls, networked with its JDF-based Prinect workflow management system. Among Heidelberg’s several press debuts and upgrades, the centerpiece

WILLISTON, VT—06/19/08—KBA North America, a global press manufacturer currently based in Williston, VT, is announcing that its corporate headquarters will be moving to Dallas, TX, in the summer of 2009. The relocation will join the KBA sheetfed and web divisions under one roof along with the sales, service and parts departments as well as the corporate demonstration center. “We’ve been headquartered outside of Burlington, Vermont for more than 20 years,” says Holger Garbrecht, KBA North America president and CEO. “But with our continued growth in all market segments it is the ideal time for us to move to a more central location to better

DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY—June 4, 2008—Komori Corp. announced today the investment of Yen 10 billion (>$95 million) in the latest phase of expansion of its flagship Tsukuba factory in Tsukuba City, Japan. Construction will start in September 2008 and, when complete in December 2009, the Tsukuba Plant will have effectively doubled in size to become the world’s largest press manufacturing facility. “We are experiencing continued strong growth in market share worldwide, particularly outside Japan, which is driving our investment to meet increase in demand for our sheetfed and web offset presses in the future,” said Yoshiharu Komori, president and chief executive officer of Komori Corporation.

WÜRZBURG, GERMANY/DOBRUSKA, CZECH REPUBLIC—04/30/08—Pending the approval of the competent authorities, KBA’s Czech subsidiary KBA-Grafitec in Dobruska is entering a strategic alliance with Adast in Adamov, near Brno. According to the contracts signed by the two companies on 23 April in Dobruška, Adast discontinues the development, production and marketing of its own branded products to focus on providing KBA-Grafitec with parts and subassemblies. In return KBA-Grafitec will source a major proportion of its components from Adast. Other KBA production sites will also purchase from Adast where possible. KBA-Grafitec has acquired Adast’s entire portfolio of product, patent and trademark rights, and while Adast will continue to

JOHN SARANTAKOS is not shy about revealing his intentions. “I want to print everything,” declares Sarantakos, administrator of Printing & Mailing Services at the University of Oklahoma (OU). “Obviously that’s not feasible, but that’s always been the goal.” To bring his award-winning in-plant closer to this lofty ambition, he and his staff recently made a move virtually unheard of in the in-plant sector. They installed an eight-color sheetfed offset press in their Norman, Okla., facility. Adding the rebuilt 28x40? Heidelberg Speedmaster 102 perfector had become something of a necessity, Sarantakos contends, “because of the vast amount of four-color work we’re doing—and it’s almost

HEIDELBERG, GERMANY—03/10/2008—At drupa 2008 from May 29 to June 11 (Halls 1 and 2), Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) will be rounding off the upper end of its portfolio for packaging and commercial printers by moving into the 102 x 142 centimeter (40.16 x 55.91 inch) and 120 x 162 centimeter (47.24 x 63.78 inch) format classes. The new platform for the Speedmaster models XL 145 and XL 162 will be put on public show for the first time at the industry event in Düsseldorf. The Heidelberg trade show presentation is based around the slogan “HEI Performance” and “HEI Value”. Visitors to drupa

LAS VEGAS—January 10, 2008—AMS today announced its role as a founding sponsorship of Print UV 2008, the first printing industry event focused exclusively on the growing UV printing market. Designed as an intimate, peer-oriented event, “Print UV” is sponsored by a founding group of key industry participants dedicated to encourage, promote and sustain the growth of UV printing in the global graphic communications industry. “We are thrilled to be a founding sponsor in the formation of the Print UV 2008 Conference and the Print UV Association”, remarked Hans Ulland, Co-Founder and Vice President of Sales for Air Motion Systems. “UV is one of the

ANYONE WHO thinks in-plants are all unplugging their offset presses and going digital should talk to John Sarantakos. “We run three shifts, 24 hours a day, five days a week, and we can’t get it all done,” remarks Sarantakos, director of University of Oklahoma Printing Services. So heavy is the demand for magazines, books and other four-color work, the 75-employee in-plant has been forced to do the unthinkable: “There’s stuff that we have to turn away because we just can’t get it done,” he confesses. To remedy that, the in-plant is installing an eight-color, 40? Heidelberg four-over-four perfector this month—to join its existing two

2008 WILL be a special year—a Drupa year. Next May, in D