Page 36 - Print 21 Sep-Oct 2019

Offset
Offset rolling ahead
Despite the rise of digital print, offset still surpasses it for cost efficiency and speed on longer runs. Major press manufacturers continue to develop their offerings for commercial and packaging printers, as Jake Nelson reports.
Heidelberg, Koenig & Bauer, Komori, manroland Goss, and RMGT (Ryobi) are the five big
offset press manufacturers with a presence in Australia, and each has been working to evolve its presses to suit customer demands in the modern era.
Heidelberg subscribes to new way of thinking
German press giant Heidelberg, known for the Speedmaster range, is updating not just its hardware and software but its business model.
On the technology front, Richard Timson, managing director of Heidelberg Australia New Zealand says the company is primarily working on its press operating system, aiming to shortcut the makeready process by reducing steps.
“Job runs are getting shorter and it’s more important to have faster makeready than
to actually increase running speed. We’ve made the
presses more intuitive so they automatically remember all the presetting functions for most jobs, so that if you do a repeat job, all the settings are stored and easily recallable within minutes,” he says.
Production and downtime monitoring are also prominent areas of focus for Heidelberg, adds Timson.
“One of our newer features is predictive monitoring, where the press parts are all monitored, and if a press part gives any indication that there
might be something wrong with it, then it sends a message to Heidelberg in Germany, and they can send out a part to replace it before it fails.
“We’re sending all our
jobs directly to the press, so retrieving the data through the MIS. With Press Room Manager you can see the performance
of the press remotely through your phone or tablet,” he says.
Press sales in the region have been consistent at about five or six per year, according to Timson – but the company has also recently introduced its subscription model, which he says is the only one like it in the world.
“With subscription you get the press plus all service, consumables, and technical help through a sheet charge. That will be our go-forward product in the future.
“Customer response has been great – people can see that it’s
a good model, and takes a lot of stress out of having to produce. What they can then do is concentrate on selling the work to put on the press. We take care of making sure it prints,” he says.
All of this is not intended
to fight back against digital however – Heidelberg also sells a number of digital presses itself, after all, including the B1 Primefire, the Labelfire, and its A3 machines sold in partnership with Ricoh. Instead, it is about addressing areas of different need, says Timson.
“You don’t need to counter digital, you need to understand it – they are complementary technologies, and there are positions for both,” he says.
Heidelberg reboots Speedmaster
Heidelberg has revamped the design of its Speedmaster XL 75
and CX 75 presses to make them more user-friendly with a design inspired by the XL 106, according to Frank Süsser, product manager for the 50 x 70 format at Heidelberg.
“Even though automation looks after many routine tasks today, the operator always has something to do on the machine, like staging printing plates, adding ink, changing washup cloths and rubber blankets, or doing maintenance.
“The generous space between the printing units in the Speedmaster XL 75 and CX 75 is already useful, however we went a step further and modernised the entire gallery concept even more,” he says.
UV focus for RMGT
Bernard Cheong of Cyber tells Print21 that RMGT has a heavy focus on LED-UV technology in its offset range.
“Traditional oil-based ink has been the norm for many years. In the past, UV printing was about high-end value-added printing, but today, to have a point of difference, LED-UV is the way to go,” he says.
Popular RMGT presses include the A1-sized 920PF-8, as well as the compact 920ST-4, he adds.
“Best bang for buck is the 920PF-8 LED four-over-four convertible perfecting A1-size press, while the 920ST-4 LED four- colour A1-size press is the same footprint as a B2-size four-colour but with triple the output,” he says.
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36 Print21 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019