Small- & Medium-Format Sheetfeds — Small Presses, Tall Orders

In the not-so-distant past, it was easy to look at small- and medium-format sheetfed offset presses (29˝ and smaller) as the less-coordinated sibling to large-format units. While small-format machines could print with similar quality, they lacked some of the automated features and bells and whistles of their larger counterparts.

Today’s generation of smaller-format presses refuse to be overshadowed—most features offered on large-format presses are now available on smaller machines.

“For the past few years, equipment manufacturers of sheetfed presses have been adding the same automation that can be found on their larger 40˝ presses to their mid-size and smaller sheetfed presses,” says Thomas Goecke, director of corporate marketing, KBA North America. “Automatic blanket washers, automatic plate changing, computerized consoles and CIP3 are just a few of the features being added.”

Know Your Role
Since these presses are often dedicated to the small- and mid-size market, efficiency and economy play an important role, Goecke notes. These presses are able to offer short makeready times, easy operation, high quality and the ability to print on a variety of substrates. Smaller presses are also being sold with more color units than in the past—some with six, seven and even eight colors.

KBA’s new 20˝ Genius 52 offset press is a cost-efficient, high-quality machine that requires only one operator. It is designed for small printers who are seeking to replace an older four-color press or move up to a more automated machine. It features a makeready of less than five minutes and has the ability to print on a wide variety of stock up to 32-pt. The Genius 52 can also be equipped with hybrid UV technology. It has a low startup waste of less than 10 sheets.

There is good reason for small presses to receive big upgrades.

“Printing has become more competitive than ever in recent years,” explains Christian Cerfontaine, director of marketing, MAN Roland. “But the mid-format market is a particularly hectic place in which to do business. It is a natural niche for mid-size companies, but it is also the marketplace to which quick printers aspire when looking to expand their businesses.”

Cerfontaine reports that even high-volume printers are purchasing mid-size presses to keep their customers’ short-run work in-house. The result: Anyone who wishes to succeed in this segment requires a press that is highly efficient in terms of makeready and production speed. Those are the minimum requirements for admission, he says.

“Above all, printers need to curb their makereadies in this fast-turn, short-run segment,” advises Cerfontaine. “That’s why MAN Roland equips its presses in this segment with as much automation as possible.”

For instance, the entry-level Roland 200 now offers a plate changing system called Ergonomic Plate Loading, which brings the time interval down to under a minute per plate change. The top-of-the-line 300 and 500 models can be equipped with the same PECOM press operating and automation system that controls MAN Roland’s larger presses. That means printers can connect their mid-size machines to all of the advantages that computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) has to offer.

In general, there is a continued trend toward higher productivity, digital integration and four-color (and even more) printing, points out Joerg Daehnhardt, Heidelberg’s product director, small format. “Some printers look for efficient two-color presses, others go with a Direct Imaging (DI) press and others invest in a four-unit or even longer press.”

Each of these presses has a set of advantages for the main applications it is purchased for and allows printers to accommodate a wide variety of other jobs, Daehnhardt says.

“In the upper end of the market, process integration is also a key function,” he remarks. “For instance, in-line coating, the addition of a fifth or sixth color and in-line perfecting. Printers need to be able to respond to a large variety of needs among print buyers.”

Heidelberg offers the Speedmaster, Printmaster and Quickmaster DI families of presses in the small-format segment. This ensures that, from a startup company all the way up to a large commercial printer, Heidelberg can design a fitting press solution, Daehnhardt adds.

The Printmaster PM 52, which was first announced at Graph Expo 2003 and launched at Drupa 2004, is the newest member in the small-format family. It’s a press that is specifically designed for the growing print shop, which allows users to incorporate several options upon request. Also at Drupa, Heidelberg introduced ProSpot technology for the Quickmaster DI Pro.

Looking to Lower Costs
Mike Grego, marketing manager for Sakurai USA, feels that printers are looking for any possible way to lower their manufacturing costs. For some printers this means converting from a two-up to a four-up press.

“Half-size printers are now very interested in 23x29˝ models because it bridges the gap between jobs that would normally print on either a half-size or a full-size press,” Grego explains. “The 23x29˝ size allows the smaller, half-size printer to be competitive against the larger, 40˝ printer. For the larger printer the same effect holds true. The 23x29˝ size offers many competitive advantages for jobs that are currently being printed on 40˝ presses.”

Sakurai focuses on the half-size and three-quarter-size market. All models are completely automated with very few options, Grego informs. Sakurai USA introduced the new 66 series with a maximum sheet size of 19x26˝ at Graph Expo 2004. This fully automatic, five-color press was shown with the new larger sheet size complete with coating unit and extended delivery. The compact design and a maximum running speed of 15,000 sph increases productivity while reducing makeready times.

Building Relationships
Doug Schardt, product manager, Komori America, observes some other related trends, including increased specialization of the press-to-work relationship, better managed workflow, and rapid and agile responses to print customers’ needs.

“Increased specialization may include a printer dedicating a press to plastics, or targeting lenticular work, or focusing on some new screening technology,” Schardt reveals. “The workflow issues are generally intershop and tend to focus on improving the utilization rate of the asset. As far as the responses to the customer needs, printers are seeing tighter delivery times, lower prices and even more services included in the cost, such as job preflighting. We are also seeing more of a trend toward perfecting or one-pass printing.”

Komori’s small-format press, the NL28, incorporates a lot of features designed for the larger LS40. On this double-diameter cylinder press, the sheet never encounters a single-diameter cylinder, so the stock range goes up to 32-pt. Washups, makereadies and color are all automated to an extent that they can be preprogrammed before the job runs.

Another area of interest is perfecting, as Schardt previously mentioned. Komori’s new perfecting mechanism uses three double-diameter cylinders to turn the sheet, eliminating many of the problems that were traditionally considered inherent in perfecting.

Adding to the theme of specialization, Don Trytten, of xpedx/ Import Group (Ryobi), contends there is growing interest in UV and hybrid inks and coatings.

“You will be seeing more of this in the quarter- and half-size presses,” Trytten predicts. “With the growth in packaging possibilities, there is also a demand for the ability to print on thicker stocks, while still maintaining the ability to also run the lighter stocks.”

Ryobi offers two separate models in a 14x20˝ size. The 522HE and 524HE presses offer high-quality printing, a wide range of paper thickness ability, semi-automatic plate changing, and other automation in both two- and four-color configurations.

The Ryobi Model 520GX and GXP series of 14x20˝ machines offer both straight and perfecting models in two through six colors. The GX is also JDF-complaint, and is available with coating and IR and UV abilities. The GX provides larger press features in the 14x20˝ size.

The addition of more colors and optional coating units is here—and is growing.

“I believe that the next step for (small- and mid-sized) printers will be five colors and aqueous coating,” contends Mike Dighton of Hamada of America. “Printers tell me that they are getting more and more requests for a coating. The large-format printers went through this change in the early ‘90s. The small-format printer will need to add coating to set itself apart from competitors.”

Adding Colors
The Hamada B552 series is a 14x20˝ press with five colors and an in-line aqueous tower coating and control system. It prints up to 10,000 sph and is CIP3-compatible.

Smaller shops looking to grow their business continue to move up to multicolor work on larger equipment, observes John Santie, sheetfed product manager for Mitsubishi Lithographic Presses. With the speed and automation available on 28˝ or 29˝ presses, these printers can progress to a four-page format.

“On the other hand, 40˝ shops traditionally pursue the efficiencies of a smaller machine for their short-run work,” Santie says. “These printers realize that a half-size machine allows them greater flexibility and productivity. Rather than try to fit a small job onto a 40˝ press, which wastes press capacity, they are adding half-size presses.”

The 20x28˝ Mitsubishi Diamond 1000LS sheetfed press can be configured with up to 10 printing units. It is capable of handling different varieties of substrates for different markets, such as brochures, manuals, advertisements, point-of-sale materials and software packaging. The maximum rated speed of 15,000 sph is said to ensure high throughput to meet the demands of medium-run projects. The Diamond 1000LC is a 15,000 sph folding carton model, with stock ranges of 0.008˝ to 0.032˝ or 0.12˝ to 0.036˝.

But not everyone sees things the same way. Walter Gierlach, of Pro-Graphics Network, which introduced the new four-color Win-504 landscape press at Graph Expo, thinks there are still printers who don’t want all the automated features offered by many press manufacturers. He is sensing a trend for small-to-midsize printers to gravitate to an affordable four-color landscape press.

“(Printers) just want to bang out four-color work that is simple, quick and presentable,” Gierlach asserts. “For 17 years I have watched this sector of printers. With the newer, affordable front-end platemakers, simpler and quicker makeready, we offer presses that can meet (a printer’s) monthly budget—a budget such that the press payment alone will not break them. Many of these shops are oversold and left with a huge lease that puts too much stress on the shop.”

Black-and-White Issues
Meanwhile, Dennis James, manager of press planning and management for ABDick, says he sees the small sheetfed market in a state of decline for black-and-white and spot color applications.

“More printers are studying the quality needed to satisfy their customers, whether it is conventional offset or digital printers,” James maintains. “Four-color process continues to grow and there is migration to automation within press capabilities. Overall, conventional offset with digital prepress continues to make good economic sense.”

The ABDick 4995A-ICS offset press was developed in response to the market’s demand for a portrait-format, four-color performance offset press—one that’s suitable for short and long runs, easily handles polyester and metal-based plates, and runs a wide variety of stocks via a vacuum-enabled stream feeder. All types of full-color projects can be delivered easily and cost-effectively.

In the small- and medium-format sheetfed space, there seems to be as many manufacturers as there are trends and opinions about the market.

The Polly Prestige 74 family of 20.5x29.25˝, two-, four-, five- and six-color sheetfed presses are available from Grafitec America. Grafitec’s Ecomatic dampening system offers control of solution flow to the plate and the ability to run alcohol-free. It allows setting for a minimum amount of water without skewing the rollers.

Another option, from Akiyama International, is the Jprint series of perfecting presses available in several formats, including 26˝ and 29˝ and up to 12 colors (six-over-six). Maximum printing speed for the Jprint is 13,000 sph.

Also available is the Shinohara 52 series, with a maximum printing speed of 15,000 sph. The 52 series is available in two-, four-, five- and six-color versions, with or without perfecting. PI