Mpress Becomes First U.S. Printer to Install Heidelberg’s Speedmaster CD 74 With 18,000 sph Peak Performance Package and Prinect Inpress Control

Kansas City-based Commercial Printer Says Inpress Technology Exceeds Expectations

KENNESAW, GA—February 26, 2007—Print technology leader Heidelberg today announced that Mpress of Kansas City, MO is the first U.S. printer to install a 6-color Speedmaster CD 74 press with Prinect Inpress Control. Debuted at Graph Expo 2006, Inpress Control is the industry’s first inline device for sheetfed presses that uses spectrophotometry to measures color and controls registration on the fly, even when the press is running at full operating speeds of up to 18,000 sph.

“It’s much more than we expected,” said Ralph Myers, owner of Mpress, when describing the combination of the CD 74 and Inpress Control. “Printers always go into new features with mixed emotion, but Prinect Inpress Control exceeds what Heidelberg said it would do.”

Founded in 2001, Mpress produces a large amount of high-quality work such as point of purchase materials and fine art prints. Mpress chose Heidelberg’s CD 74 press with Inpress Control to upgrade its technology. Its main objective was to achieve consistent, heavy ink coverage on board stock for quality-minded customers. After consultations with Heidelberg, Myers was convinced the CD 74 with Prinect Inpress Control met the shop’s needs. In fact, he was so convinced that he bought the CD 74 right off the floor at Graph Expo 2006.

“We do short and long run projects involving sensitive fine art and clothing reproductions, where you really want the first sheet to look like the 10,000th sheet or the 100,000thsheet. And it does,” said Myers, adding, “Large solid PMS colors look great too, which is important for us because our customers use a lot of fifth colors.”

Integrated in the last printing unit or before the perfecting unit on a perfecting press, the Prinect Inpress Control system is specially designed for printers who change jobs frequently and are highly standardized in their printing process. The solution maximizes productivity because it eliminates the need to stop the press during the measuring process in makeready and production. The combination of Color Assistant, in which the press learns how to optimize the ink key presetting data, and Inpress Control enables the press to ink up faster and reduces the amount of waste. After nearly three months of having the CD 74 with Inpress Control up and running, Mpress is seeing the results.

“We produce twice the amount of work than we did before in the same number of hours,” said Myers. “The operators go through jobs so quickly – jobs that used to take a whole day now take a fraction of the time. In fact, this combination of the high performance package and Inpress Control is like having two presses.” And because of this efficiency, Myers said he now qualifies for a discount from his local power and light provider.

With innovative solutions like Color Assistant and Prinect Inpress Control, Heidelberg continues to demonstrate its leadership in print technology.

“Heidelberg is dedicated to delivering the most innovative technology solutions in the print industry,” said James Mauro, Prinect Product Manager, Heidelberg USA. “The introduction of Prinect Inpress Control is part of our ongoing commitment to provide our customers with maximum efficiency, transparency and quality throughout the entire workflow.”

To ensure customers are using this new technology to its full potential, Heidelberg provides comprehensive training and support. Mpress had a full week of on-site training from Heidelberg to help operators transition to the new equipment.

“As you might imagine, if an equipment feature is too difficult to run or the results are marginal, the operator will turn it off,” said Myers. “Not the case here. We found an added benefit in that the CD 74 with Inpress Control allows us to go from 8,000 impressions per hour to 18,000 impressions per hour, while still getting our ink and water right, regardless of our operating speed.”

Prinect Inpress Control is currently available on Heidelberg’s Speedmaster CD 74 and Speedmaster XL 105 presses.

About Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
With a global market share for sheetfed offset printing machines of more than 40 percent, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) is the world’s leading solution provider for commercial and industrial customers in the print media industry. Headquartered in Heidelberg, Germany, the Company focuses on the entire process and value chain for popular format classes in the sheetfed offset and flexographic printing sectors. Apart from printing presses, the product portfolio includes plate imaging devices and finishing equipment, as well as software components designed to integrate all print manufacturing processes. In addition, Heidelberg offers a wide range of spare parts, consumables, used equipment and services, along with extensive training programs provided by the Print Media Academy. Furthermore, the Company assists its customers’ investment plans by offering financing concepts.