Knepper Press Purchases manroland Roland 700 Direct Drive Press

WESTMONT, IL—Nov. 3, 2010—Coming off a successful Graph Expo 2010, manroland announced the sale of an eight-color Roland 700 Direct Drive sheetfed press with perfector to Pittsburgh’s largest independent commercial printer, Knepper Press.

The press gives operators the ability to multitask three functions at one time, reducing prep times by up to 60 percent by performing blanket and impression cylinder washing, mounting plates and digital file transfer tasks simultaneously.

“Our new investment in the press further solidifies our position as the top tri-state printer,” said Bill Knepper, Chairman. “The direct drive system will complement our current press lineup by enabling us to efficiently and effectively produce smaller runs, as low as 500 impressions. The press will be fully networked with our two other sheetfed presses via manroland’s printnet, so we can switch jobs back and forth as needed and further standardize our production platform. So where makeready issues continue to kill other printers on short-run jobs, with the Roland 700 we’ll be better positioned to bring more to our bottom line. It’s an ideal fit between our digital and conventional presses, and meets our expanding client base’s needs nicely.”

“In today’s highly competitive sheetfed offset commercial printing market, older equipment simply cannot compete with current generation machines,“ notes well known industry analyst Bill Lamparter, President, PrintCom Consulting Group. “The operating features of 2010 generation presses increase their productivity while producing a more consistent, higher quality product than the previous generation of presses. For example, the Roland 700 series equipped with automated wash-up, direct drive-enabled rapid plate changing, preset fountain keys, and electronic print length correction results in higher productivity, which in turn means lower costs which can increase profits and/or improve competitiveness.”

The Roland 700 DirectDrive enables multitasking, with asks such as plate changing that previously had to be done as a separate task now able to take place simultaneously in up to 12 printing units. With the shortest makeready times, the Roland 700 DirectDrive press can reduce prep time by up to 60 percent, compared to a conventional sheetfed offset press. And, directly driven plate cylinders permit all printing plates to be changed simultaneously.

The unique features of the Direct Drive, such as electronic print length adjustment from the console put the press operator in command of short runs, eliminating the time wasted shutting down to change plate packing. Every printing unit is equipped with the fully automated plate changing system (APL) that further simplifies the printer’s work. The great advantage is that all plates can be changed in only one minute regardless of the press configuration. In effect, no time is needed for plate changing, as it takes place during the three to four minutes needed for simultaneous washing of the impression and blanket cylinders. See more here:www.manroland.us/Products/SheetfedOffset/Roland700DD.htm.

About Knepper Press
Renown as the largest independent commercial printer in Pittsburgh, Knepper Press is a full-service provider of print brochures, flyers, catalogs, magazines, direct mail, packaging and more. From sales sheets and leaflets, through multi-page magazine printing and high-volume full-color literature, Knepper has been serving the local and national marketplace since 1873, making Knepper Press the oldest printer in the region. Company Chairman, Bill Knepper is a fifth-generation member of the founding family.

Knepper Press purchased their first manroland system in 1998 and has been a devoted and loyal client since. Today they house a 10-color 40” with a roll-sheeter, a 6-color 40” with coater, and a 5-color ROTOMAN full 16-page web, in their 2-year old 100,000-square foot facility.

In 2009, the company was named by US Environmental Protection Agency as one of the Top 20 Green Power Partners of the year, and they are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified. The company is proud to say that they use 100% renewable wind energy for the electricity in their printing facility, further demonstrating their commitment to the environment. The EPA’s Green Power Partner Program rates Knepper as the 15th largest green printer in the country, and number 1 in Pennsylvania.
For more information go to www.knepperpress.com.

About manroland Inc
manroland Inc is a division of manroland AG, the world's second largest printing systems manufacturer and the world's market leader in web off-set. Webfed and sheetfed presses provide solutions for publishing, commercial, and packaging printing. www.manroland.us.com

Source: Company press release.