In Sheetfed, Half-Size Called 'Right Size'

While the drooping economy puts pressure on most commercial printers, smaller shops seem to be weathering the storm a little better. Many attribute their good fortune to having the right equipment, specifically four-page sheetfed presses.

The reason is that these models, measuring from 26" up to 29" in width, provide fast changeover for short runs, less cost in terms of consumables and ownership, and many of the same productivity features of the larger press sizes.

"The so-called half-size press market is absolutely growing, even in a down economy," reports Harry Wingruber, Heidelberg USA's product manager for both the Speedmaster 74 and Printmaster 74 models. "We're seeing larger printers that want to downsize their equipment to become more cost-effective than a 40" press. We're also seeing sales to smaller shops that are replacing older equipment and don't want to expand into the larger classes; buying a four-page allows them to pass savings on to their clients."

Some press manufacturers have even needed to make changes to their production cycle to keep up with demand for four-page models. "Our [18½x26"] 466 SIP press introduced at the Graph Expo show last fall was so well received and resulted in so many orders that we're hardly keeping up with demand," says Mike Grego, Sakurai's marketing manager. "Our parent company has reallocated production schedules so it can produce the 66 series at full capacity."

Adast America offers two four-page models. The 20x29" 806A, rated at up to 12,000 impressions per hour (iph) and available in two to six colors with tower coater, features a semiautomatic plate changer, automatic blanket washer, and remote ink and register control. The 26" 705C, rated at 10,000 iph and available in up to five colors, features the Adamatic dampening system and DigitalPress Intelligence.

Heidelberg markets the 20x29" Speedmaster 74, as well as the CD 74 in both a 20x29" four-page and 23x29" six-page model. At Graph Expo 2002, it displayed the CD 74 with a fully integrated ultraviolet (UV) curing system.

The company also debuted the AxisControl spectrophotometric system integrated into the CP2000 Center console to read color bars located anywhere on the sheet. The Printmaster 74 also has a new optical wash-up system.

Last year, KBA North America introduced the Rapida 74, a fully automatic 20x29" machine available in up to eight colors and rated at 15,000 iph. It features double-size cylinder systems to handle a wide range of substrates, sheet guides without drum shells, automatic plate changer, ink temperature control, video register control, Ergotronic console, Densitronic S closed-loop color control, Logotronic production management system, and automatic blanket and plate washers.

"We believe that our pricing structure and our lengthy list of standard features give printers an opportunity to be extremely competitive in this format size," explains Eric Frank, vice president of marketing for KBA.

Komori America announced that later this year it plans to introduce a four-page press similar in design and capability to its eight-page Lithrone S40 sheetfed, which the company reports has proven quite popular. The new four-page is expected to be available for perfecting or straight printing, with as many as 12 printing units. Expected features include auto ghosting, faster makeready, higher running speeds, semi- and fully automatic plate changeover, and new operating software.

In the meantime, Komori is marketing its Lithrone and Sprint models in 20x26" and 20x28" formats. At Graph Expo last fall, Komori displayed the latest software updates for ink key downloading, press management in terms of time and usage, press maintenance, error reporting and tabulation, closed-loop densitometric readings, and spectrophotometric readings. Other software handles quality control readings, including but not limited to dot gain, gray balance, print contrast, hue error, and grayness.

Komori also displayed how it automatically analyzes the ICC profiles of the press for proof matching.

One general commercial shop, which is located outside Kansas City and employs 45 people, claims that its trio of Komori presses are not only "half-size" but the "right size." Boelte-Hall Litho, founded in 1967 in Roeland Park, Kan., operates three Lithrones: a 26" two-color, a 26" six-color with coater, and a 28" convertible four-color.

"For the vast majority of our jobs, the half-size equipment is the right size for us," says Steve Hall, president of Boelte-Hall Litho. "For 20 years, we've been able to increase our business by being more competitive, and we don't have to struggle with the larger sheet sizes on press."

To what does Hall attribute the company's success? "We tend to find customers who do the same type of work over and over," says Hall. "We work with them and become very efficient at producing their work. For example, a regional bank requires statement job printing and we print a lot of business-to-business work. We also produce needlepoint and quilt publications. Our specialty is that little of our work consists of one-time-only jobs."

By having the same press format, Boelte-Hall is able to streamline its workflow and maximize press throughput. "A press is a printer's biggest capital expenditure," says Hall. "With our format size, we don't have the costs associated with a 40" machine, nor must we compete with web printers. Even though a lot of shops in our region operate four-page equipment, we concentrate on building good relationships with our customers and understanding their needs."

Last September, MAN Roland announced that it had equipped the Roland 200 with a new ColorPilot Smart ink control system, designed to cut makeready time and improve printing performance. An integrated UV and infrared dryer can be incorporated into the press as an option.

The 20x29" Roland 200, rated at 13,000 iph and available in two-, four-, and five-color configurations, features double-size impression cylinders and transferters, a five-roller system for precise dampening, and fast, accurate digital press control.

An advanced operator console, integrated into the delivery, provides such beneficial functions as sample register settings for the page and total page count, remote color control, settings of the ink stripe on the ink vibrator, remote setting of lateral and circumferential registration, and automatic adjustment for stock thicknesses of 0.04 mm to 0.8 mm, or from onionskin paper to foil and 32-point board.

Mitsubishi Lithographic Presses offers two 20x28" sheetfeds. The Diamond 1000LS, rated at 15,000 iph and equipped with a Comrac console for centralized operator makeready and control, features touch-screen display of printing parameters, makeready settings, safety, and operations; remote control running register; API III auto-preset inking; impression pressure presetting; and feeder and delivery presetting.

The 1000LS has a three-position dampening system with preset speed curves, quick plate clamp system, automatic plate cylinder positioning, and remote roller control of ink/dampening form rolls and fountain rollers.

The Diamond 1000LC is specially configured for folding carton applications; the press can accommodate substrates from .004" to 0.36" in thickness.

Czech-made Polly presses, marketed in the U.S. by Grafitec America Inc./Polly USA, include the newest offering, the Polly Prestige 74, available in the 20x29" size in two-, four-, and five-color configurations, featuring double-diameter impression and transfer cylinders and a 19-roller ink train.

The press, designed for fast makereadies, is equipped with an Omron programmable electronic control system and the open-architecture Polly Control I standard console, which enables the communication and presetting of press parameters from any prepress system conforming to the CIP3/CIP4 standard.

Sakurai USA has four models in the four-page format: 66SI/SIP Series, 58SI/SIP Series, 472EDII, and 474EPII.

At Graph Expo 2002, it introduced the 18½x26" four-color 466 SIP, a fully automatic convertible perfector, which is rated at 15,000 iph, and the 26" automatic five-color 566 SI and SIP models (straight and convertible perfector, respectively), developed for printers that need four colors plus a special spot color unit. Both 566 models have a compact design and a maximum rated speed of 15,000 iph.

Sakurai's 466 and 566 presses feature automatic plate changers, perfector changeover, and roller washers; auto-set-sheet preset device; touch-screen control with CIP4 integration; color console; vacuum feedboard; complete running register and cylinder cocking; and ink ductor ratio selection and roller declutching.

"We've focused on the four-up models more than any other press manufacturer," says Mike Grego, Sakurai USA's marketing manager. "We don't import a 14x20" press and build a 40" press only as a two-color, which allows us to focus all of our attention and research and development on the half-size market."

Situated in Grand Junction, Colo., in the remote western region of the state, Pyramid Printing has been building its business on multicolor work required by local ski resorts, developers, real estate firms, and casinos. In December 2002 and this February, the 50-employee firm installed a Sakurai 466 four-color perfector and a Sakurai 672 six-color with coating and drying units.

"We already owned a 472 four-color and a 272 two-color," explains Rick Taggart, president and owner of Pyramid Printing, "but our ski resort clients, such as those in Vail and Steamboat, as well as hotels, real estate firms, and other marketers have been designing some very sophisticated pieces, with fifth and sixth colors or very specific match colors for their logos. We bought the six-color with this very specific market niche in mind."

Pyramid equipped the 672 six-color with closed-loop densitometry and CIP3 capabilities, which allow it to control color better and speed makeready.

The company, located 250 miles from Denver, the nearest population center, has had to become self-sufficient. To do so, it equipped itself with six small duplicators, two mid-size presses from Sakurai, both color and black-and-white digital printing, and a full-service bindery.

Pyramid, billing itself as the most diversified printer between Denver and Salt Lake City, Utah, added variable-data printing after finding a need to produce marketing material for the casino industry, producing very specific couponing and discounting for its clientele.

"The half-size press really fits our market, where tight budgets have created a lot of pressure recently," says Taggart. "The 466 has been hugely effective for us, allowing us to come up to color and speed very fast, and to be very consistent and efficient. To serve customers that need a large-format sheet or a long run, we job out the work to other printers because there's really not enough work to justify a 40" machine."

Shinohara offers the 74 Series, which includes a four-page 19x26" or 20x26" model known as the 66, which is available in two, four, five, six, or eight colors, either as a straight or perfecting model or as a high-pile delivery machine.

The 66 features a semiautomatic plate changer, which reduces plate changing to one minute per unit. The straight multicolor 66 model can be equipped with an optional convertible cardboard printing system that accepts up to 0.6-mm stocks. The 66 also features an aqueous in-line coater or an IR dryer used to set the ink on printed sheets.

Shinohara's SRIM device automatically measures both register marks and image area simultaneously, capturing and storing precise measurement data on a floppy disk. The disk can be inserted into the operation console, which automatically adjusts ink key apertures and vertical, horizontal, and skew registration settings in a single operation.

Shinohara's exclusive cocking system, also found on the 66, is the only one in the world to allow the plate clamp to be skewed during operation. Cocking adjustments can be entered electronically via the operation console, or imported from floppy disk data taken on the SRIM device.

xpedx markets Ryobi's 20x27" 680 Series and 20x29" 750S Series, available in four, five, or six colors, with perfecting and with IR dryers or UV curing units. The 680 Series can be equipped with ink volume software, density color control, and a spectrophotometric closed-loop system, which will soon be available on the 750 Series.

In central Pennsylvania, 50-employee Beard Printing & Publishing has found great success using half-size sheetfeds. The shop, located in York, increased its business six-fold within four years of start-up, and continues to grow today, despite the poor general economy.

"We've had the right equipment and a dedicated, well-trained staff that has helped us to grow," says Dan Beard, president of the company, which now also includes Custom Postcards and Printing. Last summer, Beard installed a new Ryobi 686 six-color with aqueous coating tower to complement its 685 five-color, which it had added in 1999.

"Our business is nationwide, encompassing newsletters, post cards, and wholesale printing for ad agencies and the trade," says Beard. "About two-thirds of our printing involves four or more colors. This press size is a perfect fit for our work; it's cost-effective and gives us fast throughput."