Special Drupa Coverage — Manufacturers Press Ahead

Based on the sampling of new press offerings highlighted here, the massive trade show could just as easily have been called The Large-Format Press Drupa; The Short-Run, Fast Makeready Offset Press Drupa; and even The Value-Added Press Drupa.

These themes were very apparent from Heidelberg, which filled two entire halls that were networked with its JDF-based Prinect workflow management system. Among Heidelberg's several press debuts and upgrades, the centerpiece was a six-color, 64? Speedmaster XL 162 very-large-format (VLF) press with coater. (Its new 56? Speedmaster 145 model is also available.) The 15,000 sheets per hour (sph), "Peak Performance Class" presses are geared toward the packaging and industrial printing segments. Perfecting versions of the VLF presses are not yet available, but are on the horizon.