Offset Printing - Sheet-Fed

THINK OF a sheetfed offset UV press as a chemistry set for grownups, complete with an ever-shifting set of variables and a hands-on learning curve. The upside of that curve is the license to print an endless range of special effects impossible to achieve with conventional inks and coatings. And the downside? There isn’t one, according to a growing number of practitioners that may have assayed the market with a vague notion of value-added, then stayed once it became apparent what a mastery of UV techniques could mean to their competitive position and their bottom line. UV printing is not for the faint

GRAPH EXPO returned to Chicago last month, bringing printers together from all over the globe. Despite its earlier than usual start the weekend after Labor Day, the four-day graphic arts trade show packed a decent crowd. Granted, opening day attendance thinned noticeably around NFL kickoff time (it was the season opener, after all), but by day two McCormick Place was jammed solid. An impressive 640 exhibitors (including 120+ new ones) spread out across 460,984 net square feet of exhibit space. In-plants interested in wide-format printing or in mailing/fulfillment could go to special sections of the show floor where such equipment was clustered.

WILLISTON, VT—09/02/07—KBA North America announces that Holger Garbrecht has been named president and CEO of KBA North America, replacing Ralf Sammeck, who has been promoted to executive vice president of worldwide sheetfed sales and member of the Management Board for KBA. “I look forward to taking over this dynamic company that is now a combination of both sheetfed and web sales and service in North America,” said Garbrecht. “KBA North America is the unparalleled technology leader in printing presses. The firm continues to introduce groundbreaking press designs and the largest range of presses for printers of any size. I’m proud to be part of

Bob Jones University has replaced an aging one-color Ryobi press with a two-color Heidelberg Printmaster QM 46. The new small-format press will handle some of the smaller jobs that were previously being produced on the Greenville, S.C., in-plant’s eight-color Speedmaster SM 102 with coater. “We’ve seen a definite step up in quality,” says Operations Manager Jim Golla. Established in 1955, the 65-employee in-plant also boasts a Hantscho Mark 16 web offset press, which it uses to produce book components for Christian textbooks. In addition, the shop handles brochures, magazines, letterheads and other materials. On the digital side it runs a Xerox DocuTech 6180.

The demand for four-color work has jumped considerably at South Dakota State University—from 3 percent of the in-plant’s volume up to 22 percent. “A good share of that has been driven by the color copier,” remarks Dennis Lundgren, printing production manager, referring to his Xerox 250. With only a pair of two-color presses available to take on this color work, the 14-employee shop had been doing a lot of outsourcing. That all changed in March when the Brookings-based in-plant added a six-color, 22x28˝ Akiyama press with a coater. To save money and time on the front end, the in-plant also replaced its imagesetter with a Fuji

SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA—08/23/07—Expanding its ongoing commitment to advancing education and research in the graphic arts, MAN Roland has made a “Gold Partner” donation to the Graphic Communication Institute (GrCI) of the California Polytechnic State University. Developed to serve the graphic For Immediate Release communication industry, the GrCI is the arm of Cal Poly’s Graphic Communication Department where academic, educational and research resources are applied to the challenges printers are facing today from competing media. Where Theory Meets Practice “GrCl does research, testing, product evaluations, consulting, and conducts industry seminars and workshops,” says Harvey Levenson, Department Head of the Graphic Communication Department. “Its existence relies on providing

LOVELAND, OH—August 13, 2007—xpedx parent International Paper Co. today announced that xpedx will acquire Central Lewmar, Strategic Paper Co., and all other Central Lewmar companies. Privately held Central Lewmar is a large Newark, NJ-based distributor of printing and publishing papers with more than $900 million in 2006 revenues. It will become a division of xpedx. xpedx said that North America printers and publishers would not see any immediate changes following the close of the acquisition in about 30 days. The company said the planned acquisition would enable both Central Lewmar and xpedx customers to continue to access a wide choice in supplies

KENNESAW, GA—August 7, 2007—Heidelberg will showcase its commitment to small print shop owners at Graph Expo 2007 with a dedicated Small Business solutions area in booth #1200 at McCormick Place in Chicago from September 9 -12. Small business printers can now find everything they need from one place, and Heidelberg will demonstrate many of their small business solutions, including prepress, press, postpress and workflow products, at the show. “Small businesses are the engine of the printing industry, and Heidelberg offers them the best technology available to remain competitive,” said Joerg Daehnhardt, director of product management for general commercial print, Heidelberg USA. “We recently added many

Attendees of the recent IPMA conference got a chance to visit University of Oklahoma Printing Services. Administrator John Sarantakos narrates a tour of his award-winning operation.

KENNESAW, GA—July 11, 2007—Heidelberg will focus on high-tech, high-performance solutions for companies of all sizes at the 2007 Graph Expo, where the print media industry leader will showcase the latest in graphic arts technology innovation. Booth visitors can experience Heidelberg’s commercial print, packaging, small business and workflow solutions at Booth #1200 at the tradeshow, which is being held in Chicago at McCormick Place on Sept. 9-12, 2007. “We believe that by blending our historic expertise in hardware with an equal commitment to optimizing efficiencies at all stages of the printing process, Heidelberg has become the only print technology provider capable of bringing the