Perfecting Delivers Payback & Payoff

Technical improvements lead to financial returns and productivity benefits. In a word, perfecting is becoming the way of the world in sheetfed.

By Debora Toth, Project Editor -- Graphic Arts Online, 11/1/2000

Printers seeking faster turnaround, higher quality, and better returns on the jobs they produce as well as the equipment they operate are investing at record levels in sheetfed perfecting. Years ago, perfector presses were perceived as being lower-quality machines that were difficult to handle and intended for niche-type work, such as two-sided black-and-white book printing.

But today's perfectors are armed with automatic features that both streamline productivity and boost quality levels to the highest commercial standards. By making ready a job once and printing both sides of the sheet simultaneously, printers with perfector presses are reaping the rewards of higher returns and one-pass productivity.

Perfecting is becoming so popular that it is being applied to smaller-format presses, too.

Clear market leader

This drive for quicker turnaround, higher quality, and lower costs, coupled with the more recent trend toward even more printing units, is exploding the market for perfectors. Heidelberg, now with about 700 "long" perfector presses (eight printing units or more) installed or on order worldwide, including more than 100 such machines in the North American region, is the clear market sales leader.

Counting all perfectors, including those with fewer than eight units, Heidelberg reports it has installed more than 25,000 perfecting units worldwide since it began their production in the mid-1970s. The reason is that Heidelberg offers perfecting on all the models it sells in the GTO and Speedmaster 52 (20"), 74 (29"), and 102 (40") lines.

Advantage, proposition

"Perfectors are popular today because they give a printer a real competitive advantage as well as a unique marketing proposition," says John Dowey, vice president of Heidelberg USA's sheetfed group. "On the one hand, a printer has a very competitive press that prints two-sided, four-over-four colors, or more, in one productive pass. And on the other hand, it's still a convertible press, so it can be changed over to run in straight printing mode using all the units, making it perfect for designer and agency work too.

"In addition, the level of quality that's achievable and the ease with which printers can get it there are now available. The days of long set-ups on perfecting jobs are gone. We introduced perfectors in 1993 but interest really picked up in 1995 after the machines proved their value. Right now they are a very hot product."

Adds Jerry Manzi, MAN Roland's director of sales for the central region, "Perfectors are popular because they offer versatility and fast makeready. One 10-color perfector doubles the output of a four-color and a six-color press while requiring only half as many operators. Plus, a printer needs to makeready only one press."

While perfectors are considered "hot," their sales are not dominating or diminishing the demand for nonperfecting sheetfeds that produce straight printing. Printers, weighing a typical price tag of about $3.5 million for a fully loaded eight-color perfector, must make a detailed account of how much work will be perfected and if the majority of jobs lend themselves to perfecting.

For example, jobs with lots of ink coverage or too many colors might not be appropriate for perfecting. Also, jobs that require heavy paperboard stock usually can not be perfected. Plus, the layout of a given job has to have a unprinted area that allows the gripper to hold the tail of the sheet while the paper is being turned over for second-side printing.

A few reservations persist

John Santie, sheetfed product manager for Mitsubishi Lithographic Presses, says printers must be sure that a perfector fits their real needs. He explains, "Granted, perfectors offer one-pass productivity and can print both sides, but we encourage our customers to calculate how much of their actual work is two-sided. If it's not that much, a straight press is a better fit. For a yearbook or book printer that requires everything to be printed on both sides, a perfector is ideal."

Santie adds, "There are still some issues that have to be worked out, such as handling a sheet with wet ink on the backside and avoiding marking. Also, perfectors can be difficult to operate, then there's a whole issue about timing when turning the sheet over in the press."

These concerns aside, Mitsubishi is responding to market demand for perfectors with even more printing units. The company is building a 12-unit press for a printer in London for six-over-six work, plus it is introducing a perfector model in its 28" press line.

Other manufacturers are seeing interest, too. "We've seen somewhat of an increase in perfectors on our larger 55" and 64" sheetfed presses," says Bob McKinney, KBA North America's director of marketing. "They haven't been huge numbers but certainly more than in the past."

Adds Martin Petersen, Akiyama's marketing and product manager, "Although we sell many more straight presses than perfectors, there's a higher interest in perfector presses now. The reason likely is that printers are more aware of workflow issues. In the past, when makeready on a perfector press could take over an hour, a printer could put a given short-run job through a straight press in two passes in less time. But today, when makeready on a perfector can take as little as eight minutes, obviously there's more incentive to print the job on a perfector."

Perfecting on 28" presses

Just recently, Heidelberg and several other manufacturers began introducing perfecting on half-size, or 28"-wide, press models. "The Speedmaster 74 perfector has been a very popular press for us," says Heidelberg's Dowey. "In fact, we now sell over half of all SM 74s equipped with perfecting. In the eight- to 10-color market, we've sold more than a hundred 74 machines worldwide, and about a dozen in the North American free trade region. We still sell more four-, five-, and six-color half-size perfector models than we do larger eight-color models."

In the 28" press size, three perfector models are available from Heidelberg: the Speedmaster 74-8-P (four-over-four, with no coater); the SM 74-8-P+L (four-over-four, with coater), and the recently launched SM 74-10-P (five-over-five, with no coater).

Additionally, all 20" SM 74 models are available with perfecting.

One-pass productivity

Why are printers choosing a perfector over a straight press? The answers are many, but the workflow advantages of one-pass productivity top the list.

Says Heidelberg's Dowey, "In perfecting, there's always only one makeready, but two-pass printing may require one [work-and-turn work] or two [sheetwise]. And since the press is being made ready for both sides of the sheet simultaneously, it doesn't take twice the time of straight printing. At the most, makeready takes around 15 minutes more, all things being equal.

"Furthermore, there's less paper waste during makeready, again since both sides are adjusted at once, plus there's just one color OK with the print buyer, and they can see color matched wet over wet, so jobs with crossover registration are easy, fast, and predictable.

"In addition, the operator is always running new, unprinted paper, so the machine runs much more consistently. There's no need to wait between passes for drying, and no need for the pile to be aired and turned between passes.

"Finally, there's no problem with powder build-up on the blankets during the second pass."

New Designs

Others believe that a perfector's growing popularity can be pinned to new designs. "We've had a 40" Lithrone perfector for 10 years," says Doug Shardt, sheetfed product manager for Komori America. "Now we've made substantial changes to the basic design. We've added double-diameter cylinders and gripper shafts that don't move. These two features have reduced a multitude of problems."

Many printers, after analyzing the benefits of both straight and perfecting presses, have been sold on perfectors.

When Eva-Tone, Inc., Clearwater, Fla., a supplier of customized print, audio, data, and multimedia services, sought to replace a 15-year-old, four-color 40" press, managers looked at both straight and perfecting presses. A two-year search brought them to two finalist models.

"We were looking for both high print quality and ease of operation," relates Carl Evans, Eva-Tone's executive vice president. "But we also needed a perfector press that could handle light paperboard stock. We felt that the KBA Rapida 105 sheetfed press with its double-size cylinders was the best perfector that could print paperboard stock."

At the Graph Expo and Converting Expo 2000 show in September in Chicago, Eva-Tone ordered a 10-color 41" Rapida 105 press, scheduled to be installed by next spring.

"We chose the perfector because we believe that it's best to handle a job less and get it through the plant faster," says Evans. "A 10-unit perfector adds considerable capacity and gives us tremendous versatility. And even though a 10-color machine probably costs one-third more than a straight six-color, we're increasing our turnaround time and capacity. We're going to be much more competitive on 16-page, four-over-four or five-over-five brochures, pamphlets, and short-run catalogs. We'd like to add more of that type of work."

First 12-color in the world

Being the first with a unique press drives many printers to quickly write a check. Last December, Japs-Olson, a 750-employee general commercial printer located in St. Louis Park, Minn., became the world's first printer to install a 12-color Speedmaster 102.

The firm, no stranger to sheetfed perfecting, has operated many such presses over the years and can lay claim to being the first printer to install a four-over-four perfector. Today, Japs-Olson operates three eight-color SM 102 presses, a 10-color SM 102, and the 12-color.

"The 12-unit press is a fantastic machine," says Bob Murphy, president of Japs-Olson. "The quality level is so very high and it allows extremely heavy coverage of ink. Compared to older perfector designs, this press is light years ahead."

Two features of the 12-color perfector that provide the high quality are its Venturi air-blast system and special antimarking cylinder jackets. In addition, Japs-Olson is adding an Autoplate mounting system and closed-loop color control, says Murphy.

Printing any high-quality job

"A lot of printers ask me what kind of work we put on a 12-color," says Murphy. "We're a general commercial shop so we put on anything that requires high quality. With today's print buyers, everything has to be high quality. This press enables our clients to use special colors, plus our workload keeps increasing. We simply needed the versatility, production capacity, and productivity that this press offers."

Japs-Olson has a history of rapid sales growth. In 1998, when it moved to a new site and added new equipment, it recorded a whopping 26% growth. "Each year, we post double-digit growth in sales," says Murphy. "This year will still be double digit, but not as high. But many other printers are experiencing flat years, which we definitely are not."

Alternative to a web

Some printers choose a sheetfed perfector over a web press.

In October, Toppan Printing Company America, Inc., a part of Toppan Printing Co., Ltd., Tokyo, installed a 40", 10-color Speedmaster 102 perfector at its 210,000-square-foot plant in Somerset, N.J., becoming the 600th perfector press installation in the world for Heidelberg.

The U.S. company, which operates two divisions, producing books and commercial printing, has 200 employees and billed about $65 million in 1999. The new press joins five straight presses, including two 40" Komoris (a four- and a six-color) and three 40" Mitsubishis (a five-color and two six-colors with tower coaters).

"We had been studying the move into web printing and were developing a strategy with our existing clientele," reports Peter Grant, Toppan's senior vice president of sales and marketing. "We knew that most 40" sheetfed printers typically install half-webs, or eight-page machines. But we didn't think that was a smart move for us. The backbone of our work is four-over-four, five-over-five, and six-over-six jobs."

Instead, Toppan decided to install its first sheetfed perfector press. "Perfectors have more modern features than they did just four or five years ago," says Joseph J. DeLarso, Toppan's senior vice president and chief operating officer. "Today's perfector presses can deliver two-sided products just like a half-size web can, plus the 10-color sheetfed is less expensive."

Payback, and payoff, too

In addition to cost savings, Toppan managers were impressed by the quality, speed, and versatility of the new sheetfed. "With the automation on this press, we're able to speed our jobs through the plant," says Grant. "We know we can perform a 45-minute makeready on the most complex jobs, which is a lot shorter than perfectors required years ago. Three years ago, that makeready was two hours."

Grant continues, "Our 10-color has special transfer cylinder jackets and an air cushion system that keep the inked paper from marking, plus it is equipped with a spectrophotometer that reads densities on both sides of the sheet. The press is also extremely versatile, enabling us to quickly switch from printing a high-quality five-over-five catalog to a six-color straight job plus coating. This point is important because we cater to the design community, which wants more than six colors, printed at top quality."

Typical of most printers is the desire by Toppan to attract new business while maintaining quality and fast turnaround for its existing client base. Toppan has been attracting work from the design community, which makes up 15% to 25% of its sales.

Printing Hexachrome

"There is growing interest among designers to add additional colors and either spot or dull varnish coatings," says Grant. "We are one of only three printers licensed by Pantone to print its six-color Hexachrome process. We plan to move 60% of our existing work to the new machine, but we also foresee it as a tool for growth because it will help us attract new business."

For Toppan, the perfector's third key asset is its cost efficiency. As Grant explains, "This new press will enable us to reduce our cost structure, keep our prices steady, hasten our turnaround time--and speed our products to market. The bonus is, we're the only printer in the New York metropolitan region that's equipped with a 10-color perfector."

Longer runs, higher value

For the past year, Ries Graphics, an 84-year-old commercial printer in Butler, Wis., has been shifting from short-run work to longer-run, higher-quality jobs. To accomplish this, Ries sold its 40" straight five- and six-color presses along with a four-color perfector, replacing them with two new 40" MAN Roland 700 eight-color perfectors.

"We decided that we needed to attract higher-quality, longer-run, more demanding jobs," explains Don Ries Sr., president. "When we were concentrating on short-run work, each job was different and there was no continuity. It was very time-consuming and not very productive, especially when we had to run the job in two passes. We couldn't be competitive and the drying time took too long.

"We wanted to print longer-run work that is more demanding and has a higher dollar value. Now we're nipping at the bottom end of the web market. Our dollar value per job is higher and our value-added is higher too because we can produce the job in less time."

Ries likes the new presses' quick, automated settings and the automated plate loading, which cuts plate mounting from 40 minutes to just seven minutes.

Roll sheeter speeds the work

To accommodate longer runs, Ries Graphics added an RB 70 roll sheeter to one of its new 700s and will be installing a roll sheeter to its other 700 this month. A roll sheeter is an in-line unit designed to precisely cut a paper roll into sheets, which are then fed directly into the press.

"When we first looked into roll sheeting, we were gambling on the concept," recalls Ries. "But since we've run the equipment, it's evident that we are reducing our paper costs and paper handling, plus the press runs better because the sheets have no static or dirt. This is a very successful addition, with two-thirds of the work on that 700 printed from roll stock. Now that we're overloading one press, we're adding the second roll sheeter."

New perfector designs

As the popularity of perfectors increases, manufacturers showed new designs at the Drupa 2000 exposition in Germany in May and the Graph Expo and Converting Expo 2000 show in Chicago in September.

Here's a rundown of available models.

Adast America Inc. markets perfectors in a 14x20" size, rated at 12,000 sph; 19x26" size, rated at 10,000 sph; and 23x29" model, rated at 13,000 sph.

Akiyama introduced perfector models for its 26", 29", and 32" J Print presses at Graph Expo 2000, to complement 40" and 44" models already available. Akiyama contends that the J Print's unique linear transfer arrangement, with fixed upper and lower units featuring patented ceramic impression cylinder jackets, eliminates the traditional transfer problems of most perfectors.

Four-over-four, five-over-five

"Most of our sales are for four-over-four or five-over-five models," says Martin Petersen of Akiyama, "although we do have a 12-color perfector at Charles River Lithography in Rockland, Mass. At Graph Expo, we sold a five-over-five press to a short-run book printer."

Pefecting for all models

Heidelberg, as mentioned earlier, offers perfecting on all of its sheetfed models, from the GTO to the complete Speedmaster line. It is installing its newest 12-color SM 102 at Williamson Printing Corp., Dallas, Tex.

KBA North America markets a 41" Rapida 105 perfector as well as convertible perfectors in 51", 56", and 64" widths.

Komori says its newer 28" and 40" Lithrone perfectors provide a smoother paper path, with fewer transfer points and better front-to-back registration. "There has been interest in the eight-, 10-, and 12-color models, but those configurations are quite expensive," says Doug Schardt of Komori. "We talk to prospective buyers on a case-by-case basis, to be sure that they have enough work to justify that enormous investment."

Second market leader

MAN Roland, the world's second-largest supplier of sheetfed perfectors, offers its 29" Roland 300 in a perfector model with from two to eight colors and a rated speed of 15,000 sheets per hour (sph) in either straight or perfecting mode and its multicolor 41" Roland 700 rated at 15,000 sph in straight or 11,000 sph in perfecting.

The 700, which can be equipped with a patented Transferter system to eliminate any wet-side contact, can be changed over from straight to perfecting mode from the Pecom press console in less than one minute.

Next month, Mitsubishi Lithographic Presses will introduce a perfector in its half-size sheetfed line similar to that in its 40" perfecting model. The 28" perfector, available in a one-over-one, two-over-two, or four-over-two configuration, features double-size impression cylinders, fitted with or without coaters.

The new design will include Mitsubishi's DiamondLink 3 system with press link, job link, and color link incorporating CIP3 capabilities. Initially, the half-size perfector will be rated at 13,000 sph straight and 11,000 sph in perfecting mode; later, these will be boosted to 15,000 sph straight and 13,000 sph perfecting.

Last February, Ryobi introduced three fully featured A2-size models of convertible perfectors: the 684P, available as a two-over-two perfector or straight four-color press; the 685P, offered as a four-over-one or three-over-two perfector or straight five-color; and the 686P, available as a five-over-one or four-over-two perfector or straight six-color.

Cylinder changeover is by touch-button operation in about one minute and maximum speed is 15,000 sph in either mode.

Sakurai markets a 20"x28" two-color convertible perfector press, the 272EPII (72 Series).

Shinohara Tech USA markets the 14x20" 52IIP perfector, rated at 10,000 sph; the 20x26" 66IIP; and the 74VP, available in a 20x29" or a 23x29" format", rated at 13,000 sph.