From Large Formats, Big Press Performance

While the eight-page 40" and four-page 28" sizes continue to dominate the general commercial printing press market, some prospective buyers are sizing up machines with cylinders that are 50" or wider.

Once relegated to mainly the packaging market, these larger presses are proving that oversize cylinders and plates produce more work per given press run. Fit and quality, once perceived as problematic on these large machines, are no longer an issue with the adoption of computer-to-plate (CTP) imaging on VLF (very large format) platesetters.

"Large-format sheetfeds offer one-pass productivity," explains John Santie, sheetfed product manager for Mitsubishi Lithographic Presses. "A 56" press doubles the format of a 40" press while featuring the same level of automation. Moreover, given the size of the plates, automation such as full and semiautomatic plate mounting are all but a necessity."

The fact is, extensive automation is a prime factor in the success of larger-format sheetfeds.

Standard Paper Box, a folding carton printer in Vernon, Calif., near Los Angeles, had been operating two older presses; then, two years ago, the 150-employee shop installed a new Komori Lithrone 50 six-color in its 175,000-square-foot plant, adding it to existing 50" and 40" Komori presses.

But the new press sports such features as automated plate mounting, blanket washing, and side gauge registration.

"Our new Lithrone 50 has really boosted our productivity," reports Jim Eakin, litho manager for Standard Paper Box. "With its larger format, its output rate is the same as the other two presses combined, while running just half the time. We operate the new press 400 hours per month and the other two presses 700 hours per month."

Automation also provides for faster operation and less waste. The new press requires just 30 minutes for makeready, says Eakin, one-third the time required by the two older presses.

"The three presses all serve their purposes," says Eakin. "We dedicate the 40" press to short-run work and the older 50" press primarily to longer runs, sometimes up to 700,000 copies. We use the new press for short-run, high-quality work where we can switch jobs quickly and with quick makeready."

Manufacturers also are adding features that expand the press's normal capabilities. For example, center slitters enable MAN Roland's 900 press to print and produce two 28x40" sheets.

"The Roland 900 offers lots of productivity and flexibility," says Jerry Manzi, MAN Roland's manager of packaging and key accounts. "It can print anything from label stock to microflute. Large-format plate systems have eliminated printers' hesitation about handling large sheets. Compared to a 40" press, the 900 prints a double-size sheet at the same high quality for only about one-and-a-half times the price."

After utilizing the standard 40" press size for years, Strine Printing, a 500-employee general commercial and packaging printer headquartered in York, Pa., opted for the bigger size, installing two new 56" Roland 900 six-colors in the last two years.

"This format gives us a distinct advantage," says Dave Kornbau, Strine's vice president of operations. "We can print point-of-purchase and poster work more efficiently, and with our direct-to-plate system, we don't have an issue with fit. Print quality is equivalent to a 40" press yet the larger format is more productive. Finally, this size allows us to get close to pricing in the web market."

Strine, which serves clients up and down the East Coast and as far away as Kansas, bills $70 million a year. Its two locations in York add up to 400,000 square feet of plant space.

Says Kornbau, "We're so happy with our large-format presses, we may add a third."

This year, Color-Art Inc., a 55-year-old general commercial shop in St. Louis, Mo., added two large-format sheetfeds. The 325-employee firm, acquired by the Mail-Well Print Group in 1998, had been operating three 40" sheetfeds and five full-size webs and two half-webs.

This summer, Color-Art installed a 56" six-color from KBA North America, followed in September by a 64" Rapida 162 six-color, also from KBA, equipped with aqueous and UV coating.

"We bought these two big machines to both replace and expand our press lines," says Allen Walz, president and general manager of Color-Art. "We wanted to distinguish ourselves from other St. Louis printers equipped with just 40" presses. We gain size and productivity advantages over competitors, have a chance to expand our business base, all while maintaining our costs and increasing our throughput."

The Rapida 162, which can print a 44x64" sheet, appeals to a variety of customers looking for high-end, large-format printing as well as durability and a high-gloss finish.

The press features fully automatic plate changing, CIP3 digital interface, densitronic closed-loop spectrophotometry, Sentinel ink management system, and a Grafix North America CoCure system with eight-foot extended delivery. To date, Color-Art's Rapida 162 is the largest such sheetfed both in the Mail-Well Print Group and in St. Louis.

Color-Art also purchased a Creo VLF platesetter.

Founded in 1958 as a small letterpress shop, J.W. Moore is now a 70-employee commercial and packaging printer in Memphis utilizing 40" and 26" sheetfed presses. "But at some point," says Gary Moore, president and chief executive, "it seems every printer has the same press size and offers decent quality and service. What can we offer that's different from the rest?"

For Moore, the answer lay in a large-format sheetfed.

"After 20 years of serving the commercial market, we discovered a new growth path in packaging," recalls Moore. "We printed point-of-purchase displays and box wraps on our 40" press, but then the format size became an issue."

In 1999, after adding a 60,000-square-foot building, Moore installed a 51" Mitsubishi 5F seven-color with in-line coater. "It's the only press of its kind from here to Dallas and St. Louis," says Moore. "Now we can serve new and existing customers with a large-format solution."

The machine is benefiting Moore's commercial printing business as well since it can produce larger volumes of work in half the time, with quicker make-readies and less cost than the 40" or 26" presses. Catalogs, sales booklets, simple postcards, and other general commercial work can be plated on the double-size sheets, thus boosting efficiency.

"With this press, we can build a more diverse clientele by reaching out to new customers that we couldn't service before," says Moore. "In fact, clients are now looking for us, rather than us looking for them. It has certainly contributed to our growth."