Presses Remain the Key Attraction at drupa and in 2008 Printers will not be Disappointed

For MAN Roland and KBA that next step is about running set up processes in parallel through placing individual motors on plate cylinders to allow these to turn independently of the press. This means that all plates can be changed simultaneously and that several steps - blanket wash and plate change for example - can take place at the same time rather than in sequence. Dr Markus Rall, MAN Roland sheetfed press director, says that with DirectDrive, plate change time is no longer relevant. “We can cut down make ready time by making processes like blanket washing and pre-inking happen in parallel. A plate change time of one minute is not a relevant factor any longer. DirectDrive gives us the highest productivity to cope with short run printing.