WOA 50th ANNIVERSARY -- Turning up The Heat

Breakthrough in Design

Holliday agrees that gapless operation has brought a breakthrough in printing unit configuration and design. "Manufacturers now can make presses wider, without increasing the diameter of the cylinders. In addition, streaking due to cylinder gap bounce is virtually eliminated."

Improvements also have been made in the thermal part of the web offset process equation, the experts report. New dryer chill technology makes it possible to measure and adjust the tension in every web span and, when combined with multi-drive technology, will lead to fewer web breaks, McKrell points out.