Page 39 - Print21 Magazine March April 2021

Offset Revolution
between processes as well as high-level automation with presets based on information from high-end systems, thus contributing to productivity improvement throughout the entire printing process.”
Broughton says, “Along with the recent tide of rapid changes in the social and economic environment, major changes have been sought in the printing industry. In such an environment, to solve critical issues that printing companies are facing, such as higher productivity, the lack of sufficient manpower, and digitalisation with the evolution
of the smart factory, Lithrone GX/G Advance series presses were developed.
“Top priority was given to these critical items, making it possible to attain high productivity, the best return on investment, and the highest quality, by means of easy operation.”
The new KBA Rapida RA106X perfector press is the only perfector in the world that can run at 20,000
sheets per hour. It has numerous functions for even higher
productivity, and for autonomous
processes, plate
logistics mean plates go from the platesetter directly to the changer without manual intervention.
Koenig & Bauer says the new press “meets every conceivable demand that today’s market makes of a press in terms of automation, digitisation and workflow solutions, thereby making
it the latest in a line of trendsetting developments defining the future of industrial offset”, with the company describing it as an “ultra-modern automated printing system”.
The Rapida 106 X incorporates
a host of pioneering and precisely coordinated features. These range from simultaneous plate changing in less than a minute with unbent and process-free plates, to a multitude of parallel makeready processes, and also includes autonomous printing of a whole sequence of jobs with automatic activation of the good-sheet counter.
As soon as the sheet counter reaches the specified run length for the current job, the impression is thrown off, and the Rapida 106 X automatically begins the job changeover. Once makeready
is completed, printing resumes for
the next job. The 20,000sph was previously only available on straight presses – now it is on the perfecting models.
Manroland Goss launched a trio of new presses last year, with a new
large-format Roland 900, based on the R700, and two new
versions of the B1 R700; a 20,000sph model, and a stripped-back version without the bells and whistles, with a stripped-back cost.
The new R900 is available in size V 1300mm and size VI 1450mm formats with much of the B1 R700 incorporated.
New Triple Flow inking technology addresses specific challenges for large format print, providing three separate inker running modes,
while the AC Drive promises annual savings of up to 10,000 kWh – or eight years over the lifetime of the press, a key factor in today’s high- cost energy world.
“To unfold the full potential of the smart print shop, the underlying workflow must also be considered.” — Savas Mystakidis, Heidelberg ANZ
The high-speed R700 Evolution Speed, rated at 20,000sph, is aimed at longer run applications, while the R700 Evolution Lite is for those printers that do not need the level of technology that comes with the 700 Evolution Elite, but still want the Roland speed and quality. The Roland 700 family now comprises three different versions.
RMGT is also integrating its hardware with the digital world, its fully automated presses working with AGV automated guidance vehicles, with robot arms, and with cloud-based AI-IoT applications.
The new RMGT Cloud is a cloud-based management system that collects and analyses press production status data. It is designed to optimise press uptime.
If drupa had taken place, RMGT would have presented the Smart Factory Solutions, which contain a vision of the printing company of the future, with collaborative robots, AGVs, AI/IoT, cloud network, edge computing, and remote maintenance
The RMGT Smart Factory is designed to optimise production, with minimal labour, waste and mistakes.
Automatic press control by AI and the failure prediction diagnostic system based on Big Data are planned to be developed.
Offset presses will face increasing challenges to their dominance in the sheetfed market in the coming years, but there is no doubt that
the manufacturers are developing their engineering and internet connectivity to give printers the optimum means of production. 21
Print21 MARCH/APRIL 2021 39