Offset Printing - Sheet-Fed

Dominion, one of the nation’s largest producers and distributors of energy, has installed an eight-color, 23x29” Ryobi 758 press in its Richmond, Va.-based in-plant. The press, equipped with an interdeck UV dryer/curing unit, is the first eight-color Ryobi press installed in the United States. It was purchased from xpedx Printing Technologies, the U.S. distributor and marketer of Ryobi presses. “This Ryobi mid-size press delivers extremely strong print quality with unusual ease of operation,” lauds Joe Gilliland, coordinator for the Dominion in-plant, which produces 15 million impressions each year. The shop also has a four-up, 20x27” Ryobi 684 and a two-up Ryobi 3302 press. Gilliland says makereadies with

FOR THE first time since its initial meeting in 1964, the Association of College and University Printers (ACUP) returned to Massachusetts recently for its annual conference. And despite some stiff conference competition—ACUP kicked off just days after the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association conference wrapped up in Las Vegas—ACUP 2006 was a smashing success, drawing 130 managers from around the world. A number of first-time attendees from the New England area joined conference regulars from as far away as Alaska, the U.K., Australia and New Zealand. A large contingent from California was also on hand, building enthusiasm for ACUP 2007 in San Francisco—not

Heidelberg USA wrapped up its fiscal year with a host of notable accomplishments: • More than 1,000 printing units were shipped. • Heldelberg saw a 73 percent increase in 20” format press installations and a 58 percent increase in 40” format press installations. In the 40” market, Heidelberg experienced the largest growth from sales of its Speedmaster SM 102, CD 102 and XL 105 presses. • Heidelberg’s consumables products saw a nearly 15 percent increase in sales. • Prepress sales grew by 16 percent with increased CTP shipments and greater market penetration of Heidelberg’s Prinect workflow solutions. • Post-press experienced a 44 percent increase in shipments of

Heidelberg this month opened the fourth of six new regional offices in locations across the U.S. The Braintree, Mass., office will serve the Northeast region. Later this spring, an office will open in Owings Mills, Md., to serve the Mid-Atlantic region. In mid to late 2006, the San Francisco Bay area will see a new office. The regional offices expand Heidelberg’s presence in key areas and provide a network of local support that includes improved access to Heidelberg regional management teams. Each new office will house a team comprised of a regional sales manager and a regional service manager, who are equipped to meet

WESTMONT, IL--MAN Roland, the world’s second-largest press manufacturer, is on the verge of becoming an independent, publicly traded company. MAN AG and Allianz Capital Partners GmbH have agreed via a letter of intent to create a joint venture to purchase MAN Roland Druckmaschinen and take it public. Under the deal, MAN AG would have 35 percent equity in the company. Top MAN executives believe the move will allow it to sharpen its focus on providing customers with more productive ways to print. “An independent MAN Roland will be a more responsive MAN Roland for North American printers,” noted Yves Rogivue, CEO of MAN Roland Inc. “We’ve always

With demand rising for quick-turnaround, short-run color, in-plants are looking to half-size presses to give them the versatility and shorter makereadies they need. By Carol Brzozowski For Rodney Brown, a half-size press is, in many ways, the perfect size press for his in-plant. "There's very few jobs that we can't do for the university on this press," says Brown, manager of University of Delaware's Graphic Communications Center. His shop's 20x28˝ Komori is compact enough to fit in his facility, and it allows the in-plant to stay competitive, since materials cost less than they would on a 40˝ press. Plus, the quality it produces

Top 50 in-plants say one of the keys to their success is modernizing their offset and digital printing capabilities. By Eric Martin You're probably sitting at a desk, not winded or breathing hard—but in all likelihood, at this very moment, you're racing against competitors to get work printed. This competition is even more apparent at the in-plants on the IPG Top 50. They operate in a "get it done yesterday" mind-set, and that goal has pushed these successful operations to update their printing equipment with an eye solely on speed. In 2003, for example, John A. Sarantakos, administrator of University of Oklahoma Printing

The print shop dynamic is generally driven by the conflicting demands of cost, speed and quality. Today's copiers and digital printers are the kings of speed, for example, yet the payment plans imposed by manufacturers might drive the cost so high on large jobs that printers must turn elsewhere. That's where offset presses still shine. Despite all the hype from printer and copier manufacturers, offset presses still provide benefits that can't be

Large-press automation is now available on almost every model of medium- and small-format offset press. By Chris Bauer When it comes to automation, small- and medium-format sheetfed presses (up to 23x29˝) have just as many bells and whistles as the large presses—but for a lot less money. "The main features required by today's press buyer [are based on] automation," notes Mike Dighton, vice president of Hamada of America. "Auto plate loading, blanket washers, color consoles, including CIP3/4, are almost always asked for by our customers. The automation carries into prepress, as well." Hamada's new Impulse 452P is a 14x20˝ perfector. The Impulse runs at

Often overlooked and rarely explored, offset blankets and inks are those essential accessories that deserve a closer look. By Mike Llewellyn A trio of two-color offset presses keep University of Southern Maine's Administrative Services busy, says Production Supervisor Fred Degenhardt. To keep the quality of the impressions high, he says the in-plant has maintained a relationship with A.B.Dick to stock the shop with press blankets. "We run everything from business cards to clasp envelopes here," he says. Degenhardt explains that for the mid-sized presses the in-plant runs, he has found semi-compressible blankets to be ideal. "Softer blankets tend to mean less headaches for us,"