New Products

The road to many Ipex technology revelations this month has included thousands of miles in journeys by the global print press corps, including Graphic Arts Monthly staff. Travel began last November with a pre-show tour hosted in Birmingham, England, by Ipex owners Picon. (The show is managed for this print trade group by IIR Exhibitions). In January, agencies AD Communications and Broadford & Maloney coordinated a second “inward mission” to the U.K. Xerox, EFI, Baldwin, Artwork Systems, Creo, Canon, Domino, Delphax, Duplo, Screen and Kodak previewed Ipex plans.

Individual firms also held pre-Ipex presentations: Heidelberg hosted European journalists in Germany; KBA brought North American press to its Williston, VT, headquarters; Océ opened its doors in Poing, Germany, to journalists from numerous countries.

Unique among these sessions was the global scope of a gathering by Komori, with some 25 journalists from 15 countries touring plants in Tsukuba, where the 40´´ Lithrones are produced; and in Sekiyado, where System-series web presses originate. (We misstated two items last issue: all Lithrones are not built at Tsukuba—half-size presses are produced at Yamagata; and a two-over-two Spica, not a three-over-two, is being shown at Ipex.)

The event was revelatory on a number of levels. A surprise, pre-Ipex unveiling of the new Lithrone 26/29, including a perfector model; presentation of the re-tooled 40´´ Lithrone Super Perfector, and a rapid run of the System 38 32-page web demonstrating extremely fast changeovers. The automated web's performance underscores Komori's intent to become a serious player in the commercial web offset market beyond its traditional market domination in Japan. (It acquired Toshiba's web business in 2001).

Komori's automated and eco-friendly Tsukuba plant opened in December, “to create a corporate setup that is able to respond more flexibly to customer demands and boost customer satisfaction,” says CEO Yoshiharu Komori, who says it “will be, we believe, a manufacturing base for the 21st century that is without parallel.” The new plant is equipped to develop, produce and demo presses and systems. Manufacturing of the 40´´ presses has been consolidated there after 37 years in the Toride plant, first opened in 1967.

Komori unveiled a new corporate ethos, “customer kando,” or deepening customer relationships by exceeding their expectations. Founded in 1923, Komori trades on the Tokyo stock exchange, and does just over $1 billion in sales—19% in North America, 28% in Europe, and over half in Asia. China now accounts for 13% of Komori sales.

Streamfeeder will exhibit its Collating Kit and Fulfillment line in the Partners in Packaging booth at Ipex. The line dispenses various materials onto a pocket folder, which are then transferred to a worktable where the elements are inserted into a folder. The line will be configured with Servo Series and Pro Series feeders/dispensers and a modular transport conveyor controlled by Streamfeeder's FeedNet software. www.streamfeeder.com

Goss' Sunday 2000 and 4000 (4000 shown) presses will debut at Ipex. The Sunday offers a fully automatic plate-changing system, make-ready and waste reduction features. Live autoplate and blanket change demos, along with Goss' workflow software, will be demonstrated at Ipex. www.goss international.com

Scatec-10 and -15 sensors from Baumer Electric are programmable counters that precisely count sheets down to 0.1 mm at a rate up to 1.5 million copies per hour. They are designed for non-contact counting of newspapers, magazines and other printed media. www.baumerelectric.com

Nipson's VaryPress 200 press will be shown at Ipex, along with inline finishing and labeling equipment. The press can produce a wide range of applications such as direct mail, book manufacturing, security, transactional, and labeling. The model 200 runs at 295 fpm in a twin engine duplex configuration and its beefier counterpart, the 400, can reach speeds of 415 fpm. The firm will also demonstrate its 1865 compact printer designed for proofing and short production runs. www.nipson.com/products

Kompac's Kwik Koat with coater will be revealed at Ipex. The coater features metering control that applies aqueous coating directly to the blanket from the bottle and does not require the rollers and the ink train to be engaged. It cleans with just water and, according to the company, installs quickly for Kompac dampening system users and can also be retrofitted to conventional, DDS or Alcolor systems. www.kompac.com

Timson's Zero MakeReady (ZMR) book press will be featured for the first time in Europe. The ZMR allows job changes on the fly at full speed and with a minimum amount of waste on one-color books. While one unit prints at speeds up to 1,312 fpm, the press operator changes plates on the other unit. www.timsons.com

Presstek will demonstrate its latest chemistry-free Computer-to-Plate (CTP) systems and its DI presses, which incorporate chemistry-free imaging and waterless printing, including the Dimension 425. Hamada Presses will be printing with Presstek's Anthem plates as well as with the company's Freedom chemistry-free plates. Presstek with demo on AB Dick presses printing with polyester plates and exposed on DPM platesetters. www.presstek.com