WOA 50th ANNIVERSARY -- Turning up The Heat

"The reductions in make-ready through automation have been significant, making short runs on web presses economical," adds Richard L. McKrell, corporate vice president of R&D at Heidelberg Web Systems in Dover, NH.

You Have to Believe

Another believer in the benefits of digital presetting and closed-loop color control technology is Ted Ringman, another industry consultant and vice president of development for the Print & Graphics Scholarship Foundation in Sewickley, PA. "It's one of a few technologies that can be retrofit to older presses to increase the competitiveness of the machine and extend its economic life," he says. "Today, technology introductions can have an immediate productivity and bottom line impact. To remain competitive, printers now often must become early adopters."