WEB OFFSET REPORT -- Make Ready for Change

Off-line imaging—whether of a digital plate or some type of removable sleeve—isn't what is needed because of the time required to install/remove the material, Prince asserts. "That takes too much makeready time."

One of Switzerland's leading commercial printers, Stämpfli in Bern, has become the first facility in the world to commercially run the heatset version of MAN Roland's plate-free DICOweb offset press. The system uses an imaging cylinder that is laser imaged on-press, then erased and reimaged. Stämpfli is running a 16-page configuration with four double printing couples, enabling it to operate at 11.4 feet per second. It is housed in a newly built plant that also is home to three sheetfed presses and a toner-based digital printing system.