Applied Innovations

Applied Innovations on web presses
Higher quality with low unit costs – this is what print buyers are demanding. Solutions for production cost management through new technologies, automation and networking are what are needed. Applied Innovations is the keyword for web presses and stands for continual goal-oriented innovations and groundbreaking optimization. These innovations however are confined to developments that provide real practical benefits for the user.

The best example of this is the APL fully-automated and robotized plate changing system, which is available for all newspaper presses. It reduces plate changing time to a fraction of what was previously needed. With a double-circumference press like the COLORMAN, plate changing takes only 2.5 minutes – for the entire press. In addition, image data-oriented control systems make a big contribution to standardized processes, shorter makeready times and less paper waste. Cut-off register control has already proven its worth in practice for a long time and other similar developments are planned such as image data measurement for color and register control, web edge control and ink density control. QuickStart is an important feature that automates press acceleration and can reduce start-up waste from several hundred copies to less than one hundred.

Efficient large formats
Lower unit costs from the same resource base is also a demand placed on web presses: XXL formats – wider webs and larger formats – meet this demand. The format of the COLORMAN XXL has been producing successfully for some years already. With 24 instead of 16 newspaper pages and a maximum web width of 2,211 millimeters it reduces costs by up to 20 percent compared to a 16-page press thanks to its compact, space-saving design and much lower maintenance requirements.

A world premiere was celebrated recently as the first 80-page LITHOMAN successfully started up at Druckhaus Fink. This is a new performance class: 2,250 millimeters web width, 1,240 millimeters cylinder circumference and a maximum output of 3.2 million four-color DIN A4 pages per hour. This configuration with four double printing units and two system 2:5:5 folders provides the highest production variety. In the DIN A4 size this includes, besides 80-page production, 2 x 40, 4 x 20, 8 x 10, 6 x 12, 4 x 16 or 2 x 32 pages. The 80-page LITHOMAN opens up new potential for consistently high print quality, lower waste rates and high productivity.