Sheridan Books Adds Short-Run Cover Capacity with MGI Meteor Digital Press

MELBOURNE, FL—Nov. 13, 2012—MGI Digital Graphic Technology, the manufacturer of multi-substrate digital printing and finishing solutions, announces the installation of a Meteor DP8700 XL digital press at Sheridan Books, one of the nation’s leading book manufacturers.

Sales and local service of the press for Sheridan Books is being provided by Mid-State Litho, MGI’s distribution partner for Michigan.

Located in Chelsea, MI, Sheridan Books provides publishers with complete book manufacturing services. It provides sheetfed and web offset printing, digital inkjet and toner printing, and eBook conversion and distribution product offerings. The company services a wide variety of industry segments, including education, university press, religious, trade, professional/technical, reference/catalog, and independent publishers.

Sheridan Books is one of five Sheridan Group (based in Hunt Valley, MD) companies providing print, publishing services and technology solutions to the publishing industry. As demand for shorter runs of books continued to increase, management realized the company needed to integrate digital production in order to meet customers’ requirements. The solution of choice was a combination of two presses: an HP T-360 inkjet web press and the MGI Meteor DP8700 XL.

The Meteor DP8700 XL is an ideal complement to the HP T-360 with its ability to print dust jackets and covers in a 30˝ format for short run books, which also supports their hard cover customers.

“The most impressive deciding factors for the MGI Meteor DP8700 XL were the quality and the sheet size,” said Tim Cotter, vice president of operations for Sheridan Books. “It was the only sheetfed toner-based digital press that could accommodate our size requirements and the quality was outstanding.

“We compared output from several toner-based digital presses against live offset jobs, and the Meteor DP8700 XL’s quality was much closer to offset than their competition. These two factors plus a competitive cost per page made the Meteor DP8700 XL a natural choice,” Cotter added.

Another key for Sheridan Books was that the Meteor DP8700 XL’s dry toner technology uses no fuser oil, very important since all covers and dust jackets are laminated. The press’ output is compatible with the shop’s existing lamination technology, which is designed for offset applications, so no new equipment or films were required.

The installation of the Meteor DP8700 XL helps Sheridan Books more quickly service the short run market, targeting runs as few as 200 very cost effectively for their customers. As publishers’ run lengths continue to decline, this is expected to become a significant revenue source for the company.

“Since the Meteor DP8700 XL’s installation, it has lived up to the expectations that were communicated prior to purchase,” added Cotter. “The press is producing book covers and dust jackets that match offset very closely, which is exactly what we needed.

“We’re also beginning to integrate variable data on our covers and dust jackets, which will bring our customers more personalization options,” he continued. “All in all, the Meteor DP8700 XL is an excellent toner-based press for the majority of our short run work.”

The most versatile digital press in the global graphics market, the Meteor DP8700 XL offers users the widest range of substrates available (paper, plastics and envelopes), the largest sheet size among production sheetfed digital presses (up to 40" in production), laser-safe prints via oil-free, dry toner, no click charge and an economical total cost of operation, and a print resolution of 3,600 dpi/270 lpi with 25 different line screens (including stochastic), including the ability to select 2 different line screens within the same job.

About the MGI Group
The MGI Group is composed of MGI Digital Graphic Technology, headquartered in Paris (Ivry-sur-Seine), France, and Köra-Packmat, located in Villingendorf, Germany. Founded in 1982, MGI Digital Graphic Technology designs, manufactures and markets a full and innovative range of award-winning digital presses and a complete line of versatile finishing solutions. MGI USA, based in Melbourne, FL, is MGI’s fully owned subsidiary that services the North and South American, Caribbean and Asia Pacific markets.

Source: MGI.