Gearing Up For Germany

A few months still remain until Drupa, but the graphic arts industry already is abuzz with plans for the big show, to be held in Germany for two weeks in May. Here's an overview of what some manufacturers will showcase this year.

Edale Limited says it will introduce its new "shaftless" Sigma, an advanced, dedicated narrow-web flexographic packaging press that is able to convert a wide range of substrates up to 600 microns thick. Options include high-powered air dryers, water-cooled UV lamp heads, a chill roller system, and a combination of UV, infrared, air, and gas dryer solutions.

KBA plans to feature a number of new presses, and highlight some, such as the 20"-wide Genius 52 and the 80" Rapida 205, that are already on the market. The company promises new innovations in conventional and DI (direct imaging) sheetfed offset in all the press sizes it manufactures, complete with embedded workflows such as JDF.

KBA will demonstrate its new 16-page Compacta 217, a high-automation commercial web press, embedded in a JDF workflow, and feeding to a Muller Martini finishing line. The press can produce up to 70,000 copies per hour, and offers quick changeovers and unique features such as a choice of automatic or semi-automatic plate change and convertible inking and dampening units.

Muller Martini will debut the first fully integrated, industrial-strength "book on demand" system in Hall 14, which will be equipped to accept a continuous flow of prepress data that will be fed to all of its components, creating a fully automated system for both perfect-bound and saddle-stitched jobs, according to the manufacturer.

The system is based around a rollfed digital press, capable of applying one color to both sides of the paper simultaneously. Output from the press is trimmed, folded in line, then fed into an integrated perfect binder or saddle stitcher.

Muller Martini also plans to show how computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) can be applied to hard-cover book production with a number of new and enhanced systems, including: ZT 1573 gathering machine; VenturaConnect, which gathers and sews signatures into durable book blocks in a single pass; Ventura fully automated book sewing system; Collibri, a new back gluing machine; TPM spine drying and pressing machine; Merit three-knife trimmer; and Diamant Bookline.

Scitex Vision will be showing TurboJet, said to be the world's fastest wide-format digital press, which features speeds of up to 4,304 square feet per hour, printing from roll to sheet with a resolution of up to 448 dpi. It can print on various substrates, including coated and uncoated paper, vinyl, banner, canvas, Tyvek, polystyrene, and fabric.

The company also will highlight its CorJet press for corrugated and screen printing applications, which brings short-run, on-demand digital printing to the corrugated packaging sector.

Vutek Inc. will exhibit its range of UltraVu super-wide solvent-based printers, along with its PressVu UV family of digital ink-jet flatbed printers. The UltraVu product range is available in four formats up to 16 feet in width, while the PressVu line prints on both rigid and flexible substrates.