MAN Comes to Motown

The next morning the press corps crossed the Canadian border to tour the VistaPrint facility in Windsor, ON, where three 41˝ MAN Roland 700 presses are in service, with another on order. The company also has operations in Venlo, the Netherlands.

VistaPrint is a good example of what is possible using a computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) model. VistaPrint connects its customers directly to its CIM chain by providing a layout program through the VistaPrint Website. The workflow enables VistaPrint to produce more than 10,000 unique print jobs per day using minimal labor. It uses a "ganging" plate configuration where multiple jobs are produced on one plate. Company officials report they expect to achieve a two-hour "click to ship" benchmark.